Where Loyalties Lie
by ladymer
Summary: After a raid, Katara is taken from her home and sent to the Fire Nation as a child. Raised as a Fire Nation citizen, she helps in the cause of finding the Avatar only to be conflicted with what she knows, her destiny, and her love. Zutara. AU.
1. Snatched

" Don't stray too far, dear."

The tiny three year old nodded quickly at her kneeling mother as she fidgeted slightly at her mother adjusting the thick, furlined, parka hood. Giving the little girl a pat on the head, she took this as a sign to go off into the snow and play.

Small legs stumbled within the thick, layered, snow of the ice cap that was their home. It was summer, so it wasn't as heavy as it was during the winter season, allowing the three year old to have less trouble enjoying herself without need of her family. She knelt down, gathering snow in her hands, forming the ice and slush into small balls in her hands.

Her father and brother were out with two other men of the village hunting for food to supply the village for the upcoming week – Something that was not out of the ordinary for her mother. The young girl was too young to even notice, just knowing that when they came back, they came back looking dirty with furry things hanging from their shoulders. It had smelled, but when her mother took the 'furry things' it then would smell good; and taste very delicious. Salty, but sweet, a twist of flavors that would always set her apart from the rest of the women of the village.

The young girl momentarily stopped her snowball creations to look at the rest of the village. Older children played in the snow while the older women walked around with their teenaged granddaughters, telling them of days of old. Mothers walked around with baskets of food, and the men taught their sons the meaning of being a man.

It was a small village, but it was full of life.

" Black… snow?" a young girl asked herself as she held her hand out, capturing the black ice that had fell from the sky. The old woman, standing next to her, gasped in shock. She grabbed her hand, yanking her closer to her hunched frame.

" Come , child! We must go home."

" But-!" She is unable to finish her sentence as she is pulled by the woman back to their hut.

The young three-year-old girl watches the sky in amazement. One, two, three… and then the sky is falling with black, soft, snow. Black snow with a odor that she had never smelt before. It was sharp, yet light, and it wasn't natural. When a flake fell on her face, it had felt thick and grimy. She brought a glove hand to her face and it smeared on her cheek. A black smudge mark. Soot.

" Katara!" Her mother screams as she runs towards her daughter. The girl quickly looks at the direction of the voice, barely having time to take in any more information of the black snow. The woman picks her daughter up, holding her protectively against her petite frame.

She notices, the three year old, that the village had went from a happy, active, place to one of fear. The children were ushered into their homes by their mothers, fathers took their sons inside to grab weapons of defense, grandmothers took their young granddaughters inside to explain what the black snow was. Within moments, an active village had went dead.

" Stay here." She hears her mother say. " Don't ever go outside. Not until I come back for you."

She nods. Their hut, marked to show the home of the Chief, was dark. Light barely creped in through the closed door.

" Whatever you do. Do not open this door. I will come back for you."

She nods again. Her mother reaches behind her neck and fiddles with the clasp of the blue choker, taking it off and placing it around her daughter's neck.

" I'll always be with you." She caressed the smooth stone. " Always."

The daughter of the Chief didn't understand as she stood in that open space of their home. She didn't understand as her mother went outside, leaving her alone, as she stood there with a hand over her mother's necklace.

One minute became one hour.

One hour became two.

She was asleep by the second hour. She heard faint yelling, screams, and the sounds of armor -- foreign sounds as she drifted off into a slumber, waiting for her mother to return.

" Lieutenant." A man says at the opened door of the Chieftain's hut. He looks around, observing the 'barbaric' furs and artifacts that made up the home.

" Their leader isn't here it seems." The Lieutenant says observantly. " I would assume that the water bender was his wife."

" Yes."

" She was protecting something here, she wouldn't back down." He took a step in, his armor clanking against each other. Slowly he took steps, cautious, in fear of any traps that may have been placed in the home. Then his attention was directed to the sound of a little girl mumbling in her sleep. " … I see now."

" Sir?" His ensign said as he joined his side.

" She was protecting this child."

" Ah…" He kneels down and looks at his commanding officer. " Should we kill her?"

The Lieutenant sucked in a breath. It was cold and stung his throat. To kill a child after eradicating every man, woman, and child in this village would have been nothing but… there was something about this child that set her apart from the rest.

" The mother was a waterbender, correct?" His subordinate nodded. " She is the daughter of this … barbaric society's Chief…. She may have some use in the Fire Nation."

" What do you mean?"

" Waterbenders are rare. We've practically killed them off. This child here may prove to be a gifted waterbender just because of her bloodline. Don't you see?" He slowly picked up the slumbering girl, making sure not to wake her. "She may prove to be an asset in finally taking down the tribe to the North."

" How so? She's just a child."

" A child that we can easily teach the ideals of this great nation, Ensign. It's like we have a blank canvas in our arms."

She scruntches up her nose. The smell of burning flesh and oil was strong, waking the child up. She looks up at the face of a man. He was older, his skin light, his eyes gold, and his hair grey. Her blue eyes go wide and she struggles out of his grasp. He holds her firm as she looks around. There was no ice. There was metal. There was no white. There was black. There was no blue. There was red.

" Welcome to the Fire Nation, child." He says in his old, scratchy voice.

She blinks. Confused.

What was she doing here? And why was she here?

" Where's mommy?"

The old man blinks, caught off guard. He glances over to the village. The burning village, as the iron ship drifted away. He looks down at his arms and gives her a smile, a sad smile, but still a smile.

" She's sleeping, child, she's sleeping."

" Oh… Is she coming too?"  
" No… She can't. She said for you to come along instead… to give you a better life." He paused as he went along. To lie to a child about the murder of his mother. How cruel could one be? Then again, how cruel could one be to take her rather than kill her with her family? He would question his subordinate afterwards.

" Oh." It seemed she was trying to process the information.

" What is your name, little girl?"

" Katara." He smiled, this time, genuine.

" Beautiful name."


	2. Chance

She sleeps in a large bed, unlike everything she ever laid on before. Red satin sheets engulf her small frame like a sea of red ripples, and slight murmurs escape her small, pout, lips. Various things about food, her brother and father, and many things about her mother. She sleeps in her undergarments, her parka and heavy robes neatly folded on a chair in the corner of the room, as she was sweating before due to the temperature change.

In years, he thinks to himself as he watches over the small child, she will forget these things. Her world of white and blue will be replaced by a world of red and black. Cold will be replaced with heat and her connection to her people will be severed – as if it never existed.

It's a terrible thought.

But what is worst than death?

" Lieutenant Zhao," the old general said as he heard the man approach the open doorway of his room. " Why did you bring this child on this ship?"

He didn't have to turn around to notice that the young general had a smile on his face, approving his own actions that happened a day ago at that small village. The old general knew that there were survivors – he knew, like always, that those people always came back up and restored what they lost. No matter how many times it took a Fire Nation army to return and destroy what they had rebuilt. The Lieutenant was naïve and cocky. Ignorant to his own blunders.

" I'm sure a brilliant man as yourself would understand why."

" I'm afraid that I maybe going senile in my old age, Lieutenant." He turned around. " Please explain why you tore this child from her home."

He sighs and the general can hear the sarcasm laced within that sigh. His hard stare does not falter and Zhao does not back down. The young Lieutenant was far gifted in his words and actions; a displeased general was nothing to him – just a minor interference in his conquest through the ranks of the Fire Nation army.

" A young child," he began as he stepped into the room, towards the sleeping girl. " is like a blank canvas, a wordless scroll; something that we can mold into our own." He stopped just mere inches of the bed, looking at the girl as if he had just gained himself a trophy. " Is it not our mission to spread the greatness of our nation to those who have yet to witness it? Why not this child? Young, naïve, and just perfect to instill our great ideals into her small mind."

" If you honestly believed in that, Lieutenant, we would have had a ship of toddlers. There's something else about that girl you that intrigued you."

" General Iroh, do not doubt my intentions." He said light heartedly, brushing off what the Dragon of the West doubted. He strode towards his commanding officer, hands folded behind his back, with an expression on his face that spoke so many words – he was hiding his true purpose with the child. It was clear in his amber eyes. " Sometimes I do carry compassion for the…." He paused, thinking of a lighter word to use for those that had not the glorious blood of the Fire Nation through their veins. "Unfortunate."

Iroh, the famed General, and denounced Prince of the Firenation, stepped over to the bed. He honestly didn't know what to do with this child. Taking this child to the Fire Nation would subject her to prosecution at such a young age. Leaving her, abandoned, at an Earth Kingdom colony would do nothing but make her another orphan among the thousands already on those lands. He glanced up at his young Lieutenant and back at the girl.

" Do you honestly believe that she'll be treated like a Fire Nation citizen when we dock within the next three days?"

" Why, no sir."

" Then what 'glorified' nation will she grow to understand?"

" That, Sir, is something for the Fire Lord to decide." He smirked, something that Iroh did not notice. He was going to make this work. He was going to be the first Fire Nation General to ever break the walls of the Nothern Water Tribe. Yes, Zhao was certain of this.

" My brother will be as clueless as me."

" If you'll excuse me." A bow and he was gone.

" Dear child." Iroh said, sitting on the bed, looking down at Katara. " I do not know what I am to do with you." He sighed.

He was in a situation that he honestly did not know what to do.

--

It was a ship of men. Strong men with pride for their great nation. Men who had left wives, girlfriends, and children back at home to fight a war against the rebels. They have been at sea for weeks, on a conquests to eradicate any potential uprising, and they were finally coming home.

Coming home with a Watertribe girl.

It was discomforting to have a toddler running around on the ship's deck in one of their General's shirts, finding every bit of Fire Nation ingenuity intriguing and exciting. The sound of seagulls flying over head was like music to her ear, the smell of warm salt water was like the smell of candy to her nose. It was different, it was surreal, it was a new experience for the young girl.

It was uncomfortable for the men on aboard.

Why was this girl running around and not in a brig? What right did she have to be running around in finest robes of a royal family member? Did she not understand her situation?

Then again… she was a toddler. What does a three year old know?

" What do you know about the Fire Nation, Katara?" Iroh had asked her, holding the girl in his arms. The scene disturbed nearly his entire crew. The General paid them no mind. The girl, enthralled with how the fishes raced against the bulkhead of the iron ship, barely paid the old man any mind. " Katara?"

She blinked, " It's a bad place."

" Really?" He chuckled. " It's not really such a bad place."

" It's not?"

" It's a really hot place, filled with beautiful buildings, art, and music. In fact, I know a little girl who's your age that lives there."

" Really?" Katara's interest was struck. Back at home, there wasn't really any girls her age and many of the villagers held her family in high regard that she never had any moments to play with them. They were too busy worshipping them.

" Yes! She's a little thing, very brilliant, much like you! I'm sure, when you meet her, you'll be good friends."

" I'm going to meet her?"

" Why of course. You're coming with me when we get there."

Katara smiled. She began to doubt what her village had told her about the Fire Nation. What tyranny did they do? They took care of her, feed her, and kept her clothed. They didn't lock her up in 'scary' places or hurt her. They treated her as if she was one of them. By each moment she was being detoured by the hospitality the Dragon of the West offered her. She didn't notice the stares and glares she received from the crewmembers. She didn't hear their snide remarks because Iroh kept her away from that.

Slowly, the child was entering a forbidden society with eyes blinded from a truth.

In this scenario, she was a very lucky child.

--

" Welcome home, my son."

" Thank you, Father."

They greet each other with the respect of noblemen, not of blood relation. The Fire Lord, an old aging man with graying hair, frail body, and bony hands, looks over to his brother's right at his Lieutenant, Zhao, and at the corner of his eyes, catches the young Water Tribe girl standing meekly behind Iroh's right leg, in-between the two soldiers.

" What is this." The words spill from the Fire Lord's lips with disgust. Why was this barbaric child doing in his palace, soiling the purity of the structure? The young girl clings onto Iroh's pant leg, intimidated by the tall Emperor.

" Your key to the North, my Fire Lord." Zhao said, before Iroh even had a moment to think of an explanation. Iroh looked at Zhao the moment the explanation came from the lieutenant's mouth. Fire Lord Azulon raised an eyebrow at the explanation.

" A key? How so…"

" Lieutenant Zhao…" Iroh said, his voice laced with slight anger at the man's scheming – yet again.

" I think it would be best if we escort this young girl somewhere else; just so we don't disrupted what we've already planted in her."

Azulon eyed Zhao with suspicion. What did the man have under his sleeve, he did not know – and he did not like not knowing what he had planned. Yet, he orders a servant to take the girl out the throne room. She reluctantly releases her hold on the General before she takes the hand of the servant, who leads her out of the room. Azulon watched every move that the girl made as she left, trying to figure out what made this barbaric child so special. Special enough to be within his presence.

" What is not better than to have a water bender in our hands?" Zhao said, hands folded behind his back, becoming too comfortable within the room.

" We have plenty in the prisons." Azulon reminded the Lieutenant.

" Waterbenders who already been tainted with, foolish, ideals of treason against our great nation. But this girl is different."

" And how is she different?" The Fire Lord was growing impatient as his eyes narrowed at the Lieutenant. Zhao quickly caught on. He wasn't going to loose this; not this far in the game.

" She is the daughter of the Chief and her mother was a waterbender; which makes this girl a _very special_ person to have within our walls."

" You mean you ripped her from her home because you assumed she'd be a powerful waterbender?" Iroh asked. Zhao chuckled, slightly.

" The Northern Water Tribe is almost like Ba Sing Sei; completely impenetrable. I see an opportunity in that girl to finally take down that tribe and give this nation full control of the Water Tribes."

" So you are basically going to use her against her own people."  
" She won't even acknowledge them as her own people if she is raised as a Fire Nation child, _sir_." Zhao looked at his Fire Lord. " Besides, the barbaric child needs some lessons in civility."

General Iroh didn't have much to say. It was beyond his control no matter what he did. The child was going to be used as a tool to destroy her own people and he really didn't have any control over it. Though he believed in the brilliance of his own country and served proudly in it's army; he could not see himself putting a child through such an inane war tactic.

What were they going to do with her? Lock her up with the other waterbenders? Make her a palace servant? What good could she have in this kingdom's capitol if she was to be nothing more than a war tool? It was bizarre to even think of any solution to this already complicated situation.

" It is an interesting idea you've proposed, Lieutenant." The Fire Lord says as he stroked his beard in thought. Long fingers, smooth with motion, against the thin beard, his old eyes closed within thought. Contemplating the proposal the young Lieutenant had presented.

" Father, if you may allow me to interject…."

" Yes, Iroh?"

Iroh glances at Zhao, noticing his triumph smile on his face. He already believed that he had own this battle – a promotion guaranteed on it's way for such brilliant thinking. Taking the Chief's daughter – Using her against her own people? He would be a war hero if it went off the way he had foreseen it.

" If you plan on keeping this child, then allow me to take her in. It'd serve no purpose if we were to destroy her innocence at such a young age."

Azulon laughed, his old voice hoarse, " Who cares about a tool's innocence. She is here for a reason and we will use that to our advantage."

" We should put the trust of the Fire Nation in her mind so that she will be successful in the siege, Father." Iroh said, his voice hard and stern – desperate in keeping the girl out of the military and into a home where a child should be. Not make her a machine, but a human. It was the least he could do before he lost her to the Fire Nation's army. " She already has been disillusioned from our culture's ways… it would serve better to raise her as a Fire Nation child so she can have," he paused. " The passion to go forth with this plan."

" What are you saying, General?" Zhao chuckled. "The military can supply that without the need of pampering." He said, finding what his superior said outlandish. Honestly, it was one thing to teach the barbarian Fire Nation civility – it was another thing to pamper the child as if it was nobility.

" The men and women who serve in this army are citizens, raised with the beliefs and ideals of our country. We must put that trust in her. Throwing her out in the streets would hinder that."

" I don't agree with that idea, Iroh." Azulon said, hands behind his slightly hunched back. " She is a peasant, daughter of a Chief or not. Pampering a peasant is something I will not allow within these walls."

Iroh bit his lip. He was losing the battle and running out of cards to play. He knew how ridgid his Father was and he knew how slick Zhao's tongue was. Iroh had to think of something to at least save this child's humanity, or what little she would have left. He closed his eyes briefly, taking in as many options as he could think of.

" Then allow her to be my page." He said, putting all of his eggs in one basket. Azulon looked at his son, his eldest son, with a slightly shocked expression. Was his son actually attached to the peasant? He glanced over at Zhao, the Lieutenant caught off guard with that request. Zhao had laughed.

" My Lord, honestly – "

" A page you request?" Azulon asked, cutting off Zhao, as he approached his son. Iroh nodded and bowed before his father.

" She'll serve as my page. I'll prepare her for what she needs to do and she'll serve me at my side as a page."

" I can tell you hold much compassion for that peasant," Azulon said, looking down at his son. " But your request for her services as a page seems reasonable without doubt."

" My Lord!"

" Thank you, Father." Iroh said, relief in his voice.

" Do not make that girl forget her place in society, my son." Azulon said, his voice hard and stern, reminding his son that he was in no way pardoning the girl from the prosecution she was to receive. Iroh simply nodded.

He heard what he wanted.

The girl had a little more time as a child.

--

" What's your name?" It was more like a demand than a simple question. The young water tribe orphan looked up at the direction where the voice came from. Katara had been standing, alone, in the hallway which lead to the Fire Lord's throne room; confused and silent. " Are you deaf?"

Katara shook her head. " Then why don't you answer me?"

" M-my name is Katara."

The girl, dressed in a Fire Nation school uniform, smirked. Her golden eyes glinted with something that had the young three year old slightly wary of the girl who stood before her. She noticed a gold ornament that held her hair up in a tight bun, while her bangs fell around her face, accented her apple shaped head.

" My name is_Princess_ Azula." She chuckled. " Named after the Fire Lord, my grandfather." She crossed her arms. " Are you a new servant? If so, I order you to help me in the garden."

Katara blinked.

" Are you dumb?"

She shook her head in response.

" Katara!" The three year old's head snapped towards the sound of Iroh's voice. She saw the old man, running towards her, a relief on his face. He scooped the young girl in his arms when he reached her. " Are you ready?"

" Uncle Iroh, what are you doing with the servant?" Azula's voice was mixed with disgust and shock. How could the future Fire Lord dare touch a servant?

" Ah, Azula, nice to see your angelic face after all this time." Azula feigned a smile, despite feeling blasé about the pleasantries. " Katara, this is my niece, the one I had told you about. She had just turned five a few weeks before I had left. I'm sure you'll grow to be good friends."

Azula blinked. This was confusing. What was he implying? Did he adopt this peasant on his last trip to the Water Tribe? What was he implying here? Did he honestly believe that this girl was on the same level as her; Azula the child prodigy? She wanted to scoff, but instead, faked a smile.

" I can't wait." Her voice was slick with disgusted masked with giddy happiness.

She wanted to know more about that girl. She couldn't stand the thought of even being associated with some foreign water rat.

* * *

Slowly progressing, yes. Sorry about that but bare with the story. Again, if you read it... review it. I like input. 


	3. Toy

She looks in the mirror. It's large and towers the girl, dragons cut into the wood that held the reflective glass in place look down at the girl with their wild expressions. She pays them no mind; she's still looking at her reflection in the mirror. The blue was gone. It had disappeared long ago when she arrived in these foreign lands. Red was what she wore. A red uniform – a student uniform.

I didn't bother her. But it seems strange. Blue was what she remembered. Though, those memories were now blurred, slowly fading away into nothing as she continued on each day with her life, that blue always remained. Red was what she knew, it was her nation's colors, but blue… blue had represented something. It what constantly reminded her what set her apart from the others.

Blue… blue….

" Hello, Katara."

She blinked as her mind was brought back to present from the land of forgotten memories. She looked at the reflection of the girl standing behind her. She was smiling, yet, the smile held so much more than she was letting off. Katara forced a small smile, acknowledging the older girl behind her.

" Princess," she slightly bowed. " Good morning."

" My _dear_ Katara." She stepped around the girl, standing in front of her. She took a delicate finger and placed it under her chin, pushing her up so that she was standing straight. " No need for that. We're_friends_, remember?"

Katara nodded. " Of course…" Another smile. " Azula."

" Right." She placed an arm over her shoulder and turned her around, bringing her closer. It made the girl inwardly wince. " You're like a cousin to me, Katara. Even if you're my Uncle's page… he treat's you as if you were his own and… you know that I look at that as if you were like…" She paused. "My relative."

Azula began to lead the girl out of the room. " We can't be late to class. You understand that."

" Yes, Azula."

" You should be glad, Katara. You are getting the best education in the nation. That, in itself, is such an honor."

" For that, I am glad."

" That is good to hear, Katara."

Katara was five year old, which meant she had to attend school; or what Iroh had explained to her months ago. For the first two years of her life in the Fire Nation, Katara had never left Iroh's side. She had grown attached to the old man, almost considering him as an uncle despite the fact that there was such a strong clash of differences between them.

It was the first time in her life that she had left his presence, going beyond his side of the palace, and into the life of a normal Fire Nation child that lived in the world of the royals. Honestly, she never comprehended her situation until she met Azula again. Katara had remembered her, vaguely, but she could never forget that smug smile or higher-than-thou attitude she had. Azula had quickly taken a liking to Katara, but through all the sweetness – she knew Azula was anything but sweet.

" I'm sure you know that Uncle has left for Ba Sing Se." Azula said as they rounded a corner, continuing on their way to their instructor's room. Katara nodded. It was another reason why she was put into the school. Iroh was gone to Ba Sing Se, along with his son Lu Ten, and couldn't take care of her. " The moment Ba Sing Se falls, the world will finally be ours!" She grinned at the thought. " Our great nation would be known around the world. Isn't that great?!" Katara simply nodded. " I can't wait to take part in the conquests. Daddy says I have a gift that would be great for our country. He says I was born gifted."

" I believe that as well, Azula." Katara tugged at the end of her uniform top. For some reason, in the back of her mind, knowing that Azula was this gung-ho for their nation worried her. Weren't these conquests to share the brilliance of the Fire Nation to the rest of the world? Yet, Azula was focused on conquering. It confused her.

" I see you have your toy with you today, Azula."

The two girls stopped walking. Katara frowned. She knew that voice and she couldn't stand the owner of it. Katara turned around and crossed her arms over her chest. The boy standing across from her merely smirked as he placed his hands on his hips. Such arrogance, Katara just wanted to wipe that smirk off of his face.

" I am not a toy." Katara warned. " I have a name."

" I'm sorry. You're her pet. It makes sense considering toys don't talk." He laughed.

" Ah, and this is coming from Mommy's boy?" Azula looked at her nails with amusement. " All this mouth until something happens, then you're running to her."

" Shut up, Azula."

" Don't try to start something you can't finish, Zuzu."

" Yeah." Katara added with a smirk. Zuko frowned.

" Shut up, pet."

" I have a name, stupid."

" Bah! I don't need this from you two _girls_. I'm going to go practice my firebending."

" Sure, because you need all the practice you can get, Zuzu." Azula said sarcastically. She took Katara's arm and began to lead her down the hallway. " Come, we're late."

Zuko crossed his arms over his chest. Honestly, what right did his _younger_ sister have to come at him like that? He was Zuko, third in line to the throne of the Fire Nation and a (future) Firebending Master. Within time he was going to be ruling this country and she was going to have to listen to him! She was just jealous. Yes, that was it. She was just jealous that their mother loved him more than she.

He smirked as he walked in the opposite direction, satisfied with his conclusion. Well, what an eight-year-old boy would be satisfied with at least.

It's redundant. Katara caught onto that real quickly, within her first week of schooling to be exact. The same old, rigid, woman would stand in front of the two girls with a wand in her hand pointing at a board with various scribbles on it that the young five year old could barely make out. She would recite how great the nation was, its victories, and how the great Fire Lord Sozin brought down the rebel Air Nomads. There was minor dabbles in math, literature, and various other elements of education – but the main point of their lectures was to infuse the glory of the country to it's countrymen.

About sixty percent of the class Katara could recall, the other forty were somewhere that she didn't know nor care. She understood her responsibilities to her country and how much the war affected the plans of the nation. Unlike Azula, who sat next to her (probably mulling over the glory of war), Katara had more of a subtle approach to it all. Yes, the world should understand the glory of the Fire Nation – but wasn't there more … passive tactics to use? Why were the rebels resisting? Did they not want to accept what they had to offer them?

" We must defend ourselves from the threat." Their teacher would say quickly. Katara would resign to that response and continue practicing her calligraphy. The threat… whatever that was.

--

" What are you doing?"

" Walking in the garden. What does it look like I'm doing?" She glared at the boy standing on one of the rocks that lined the pound. Honestly, if he thought shoving his weight around was going to win points with the palace, he was sadly mistaken. Zuko jumped down from the rock and approached the young girl who was three years his junior.

" You need to be in class."

" I was excused. The _Princess_ needed to be taught royal etiquette. I am a page so I don't get special treatment."

" Oh." He ran a hand through his hair. " Right."

She knelt down, one hand on her knees while another picked at the grass. She rested her chin over her hand and sighed. The Prince merely looked on at her, at a lost of what to say or take the conversation. Whenever they met they were always fighting, especially when Azula was around. Yet, here they were, in the garden, and he had nothing to say.

" I miss Unc--- Iroh and Lu Ten." Katara shifted, her legs now going numb. Zuko crossed his arms. If he admitted that he actually missed his cousin and uncle, it would show weakness in him and a crown prince does not show trivial emotions. So he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

" Stop worrying. The page to The Dragon of the West should be stronger than that." Katara pouted.

" Easy for you to say." She mumbled. Zuko winced; he didn't expect it to come out like that. She was a little kid and a girl after all. Girls couldn't understand war as well as a guy could.

" Well, I mean, you can worry… a little bit." He waited for a reaction. " And… that they'll be back soon."

" But Ba Sing Se is impenetrable." Katara pulled some grass up and Zuko laughed at her response.

" Uncle is the great General! A stupid wall can't stop him!" He gave Katara a pat on the shoulder. " Come on, cheer up. They'll be back, victorious, and things will be the way they used to be."

Katara looked up at Zuko and wiped the tears that threatened to fall down her cheeks away. She hated when he got all 'mushy', making her feel better and looking at the good side of life. Why couldn't he just pick on her – at least he didn't make her feel all happy to actually see him instead of having the urge to punch him. He smiled as he took his hand away from her shoulder.

" Come on and get up. I'll show you around the garden."

Katara stood up; drying her eyes with the back of her hand one more, slightly sniffling. The first thing that she wanted to say was that she already seen the garden, as it was the only garden she had access too in the palace, but then held back. She didn't understand it, maybe it was that goofy smile he had on his face, but she just nodded instead and followed him as he showed her around the garden she had spent the last two years of her life playing in.

" ….There's a family of turtle ducks here…."

Maybe the spoiled Prince wasn't so bad after all.

* * *

_Thanks for the reviews. I noticed one person said that they would be interested in seeing how Katara's stubborn behavior would come into play with Azula. Considering how Katara was uprooted at a very young age, she is basically being raised with the ideals of Fire Nation girl. She will have some traits but she'll basically be more settled... for now at least. Again, review after reading. I like to read what you think!_


	4. Scrolls

" Just stand right there and don't move."

Katara walked to where Azula pointed at, in front of a large cherry blossom tree, and stood there. She never spent this much time with the princess until Iroh left, leaving her in the palace by herself and under the care of the servants within the house. Apparently this gave Azula the impression that she got a new plaything. Honestly, Azula gave Katara such uneasiness the young girl was starting to feel suffocated.

Katara looked over to the left of Azula, taking notice of the girl clad in pink giggling next to her as if the funniest thing had just happened. To the right stood one girl that was simply there. She held no expression except one of pure boredom about what was currently going on. Katara barely knew the two girls besides the little bit of knowledge that they were noble's daughters that were always at Azula's side.

" Now, dear Katara, I just want you to stand still and not move." Azula had a smirk on her face. " We're just going to see if we can hit that branch above your head."

Katara blinked. "_What_?"

" You heard me, right?" Katara nodded and Azula sighed. " Then there shouldn't be anything to worry about. You see, Daddy said I should practice my firebending being a… 'prodigy' and all."

" Why do you need me here then?"

" _Because_," Azula's patience was beginning to run thin and Katara was slowly noticing it. " It gives me more of a… challenge to not miss my target. Okay?"

" Just listen to what she says so we can get this over with." Mai said crossing her arms. She sounded bored and annoyed – the standard from the noble's daughter. " Really."

Katara closed her eyes and gulped. She didn't really understand how she went from classmate to playmate and now target practice. The young page never understood the Princess, since the first day she met her. To Katara, Princess Azula was a weird girl. Always throwing her weight around and saying the most disturbing things.

The thrill she got out of making her older brother suffer was odd as well. Katara knew that Zuko could be annoying at times – all boys were – but Azula was just borderline sadistic about it. She still freshly remembered the time that Azula had forced her to go into Zuko's room while he was sleeping and steal one of his toys so that she could burn it.

And who was blamed for it? Katara. The punishment was unjustified to say the least.

The Fire Princess pointed two fingers at her target, aiming at the tree branch above Katara's head. She slowly licked her lips, concentrating on her hitting the branch precisely – not really caring if her Uncle's page got hurt in the process. Katara grabbed onto the end of her uniform jacket, gripping onto the thick fabric until her knuckles were pale. She could hear her heart beating in her ears. Thump, thump, thump – so loud it was as if she couldn't hear the outside world.

" Young lady what are you doing?"

Katara knew the sound of that voice.

" Practicing, Mommy." Azula said sweetly, brining her hands behind her back. The Fire Lady was not the least impress with the now seven year old's display of innocence. She glanced over to her two friends who merely stood there, looking on, one holding a face of curiosity and the other merely bored with the entire situation.

" And why do you need to practice with Katara standing under…." She looked up at the small branch of the cherry blossom tree and Katara who was standing underneath it with her eyes tightly shut. "Your target?"

" It would give me more of a reason not to miss, Mommy."

Ursa closed her eyes and shook her head. Really, what was wrong with this girl? She opened her eyes and pulled up her robes as she entered the garden not to get the ends dirty. She approached Katara and placed her hand on the young girl's shoulder. " It's okay dear, you can open your eyes now." She said soothingly as she knelt in front of her.

Katara slowly opened her eyes. Ursa smiled and stroked the top of Katara's hair, trying to calm the young girl down. Honestly, why did Katara hang out with Azula and her friends always baffle the Fire Lady. Didn't the young girl realize that she was no more than a 'toy' to the group?

Ursa stood up and extended her hand out to the young page. " Come, dear. I'll have something for you to see."

Katara nodded as she placed her smaller hand within Ursa's delicate hand. Ursa looked at Azula, frowning at the young girl. " And as for you, young lady, I will be speaking about this to you later."

" Alright, Mommy." Azula sarcastically said as she looked at her fingernails. Ursa gave her daughter one more look before stepping out the garden, Katara allowing the Fire Lady to lead her out quietly.

Azula waited for her mother and the page to be out of ear shot before angrily shooting a flame towards the branch, slicing the small cherry blossomed covered branch off of the tree. It fell to the ground quickly with a loud thump. She examined her nail, making sure she didn't get any broken nails and stood straight.

" She regards that rat more like a daughter than _me_." Azula spat angrily.

" And?" Mai said crossing her arms. " It's not like she's the Princess or anything…"

" Yeah!" Ty Lee piped up, jumping behind Azula and placing her hands on her shoulders, squeezing them with comfort. " You're the Princess and she's just some servant!"

Azula shook Ty Lee off of her, brushing her shoulders off as she was cleaning whatever dirt the acrobatic girl left on her. Ty Lee wasn't fazed; she did that whenever she touched her. Azula put her hands behind her back and looked down at the branch on the ground, cherry blossoms scattered around it from falling off the branch at impact with the ground. Faint smoke was still rising up from the end that separated from the tree itself.

" She's not just a servant, Ty Lee." Azula said slowly. " She's a page; the page to my Uncle, who, if you haven't forgotten is the heir to the throne. Which means that she would have more power than me when that tea loving idiot is made Fire Lord." She knelt down and plucked a cherry blossom off of the branch, the pink and white pedals barely hanging on; so delicate a simple wind would blow them away. " _That_ is why I can't stand the fact that everyone in this palace _loves_ her." The pedals were set flame in her hand.

--

Katara had forgotten what her mother looked like. She forgotten her touch, the way she looked, and even her love. She knew she once had one – how else would she be here – but she never _had_ a mother. It was something that she wanted; a person to tuck her in at night and tell her sweet stories. Iroh would do that for her, even his son, but since they were gone fighting in the siege against Ba Sing Se she had no one.

But Ursa, she held a kindness to her that was almost like the motherly love she had missed all these years. She protected her, comforted her whenever she could, and made her feel as if she was one of her own. It was Ursa, besides Iroh, that gave the young girl the stability needed. To keep her grounded – to keep her from remembering what she lost those years ago in that village.

The Fire Lady let go of Katara's hand as they approached the doors to one of the many sitting rooms in the palace; one of the few that Katara was actually allowed to enter. She gently pushed on the large double door and walked through, pushing the door as she went, as Katara followed behind.

" I'm sorry about Azula." Ursa said as she walked over to a table at the center of the room. " I know she doesn't mean any harm but… she does get carried away…"

Carried away was an understatement to the young girl but she merely nodded in response. Ursa was searching through the various opened scrolls on the table.

" General Iroh sent you a letter yesterday but I was busy so I never got the chance to," she grabbed a scroll. " read it to you."

Katara's eyes were wide with excitement. Finally, something from Uncle Iroh! It had been months since his last letter arrived at the palace for the young page. She ran over to Ursa's side and looked up at the letter, its fine rice paper adorned with the ink stains at points where his brush would merely pause. Ursa laughed at the girl's excitement.

" There, calm down." She said amusingly. " I'll read it to you. He wrote something for Zuko and Azula as well, so I'll skip past that." She cleared her throat, preparing herself for what her brother-in-law wrote to his adopted child.

" I hope you are well, little Katara. Things have been exciting here at Ba Sing Se as we finally broke through the outer wall! The general was quick to surrender so this may end quicker then I originally planned!" Katara laughed.

" When Ba Sing Se falls then we'll finally be able to take the world as our own!" Katara said, looking at the letter from underneath Ursa. The fall of Ba Sing Se was something Katara was waiting for the longest. It meant Iroh would finally come back home, and so would Lu Ten. It would mean that their family would be together again.

Ursa nodded her head and continued, " Lu Ten has been busy on the frontlines, but he sends his love to you. You are like a little sister to him, you know. Also, on our way to Ba Sing Se I found a something you may find interest in. Since I gave Azula and Zuko something I felt it would be right to give you this as well. I'll be writing soon… Uncle Iroh."

" What is it? What is it?" Katara asked excitedly as Ursa placed the scroll back down the table. She picked up an old scroll tied together with a blue ribbon and handed it to the young girl beside her. Katara blinked and then frowned. " … A scroll."

" He did say you may have interest in it." Ursa reminded with a smile on her face. Katara sighed, looking at the scroll in her hands.

" But I'm still learning how to read."

" I'm sure you can make out what it is… or if you can't… ask someone to help you. I'm sure they wouldn't mind." Ursa stroked Katara's hair with her hand. " Now, I have to do something now. You have a good day, Katara."

Katara watched the Fire Lady leave the room. Her robes flowing behind her with a gracefulness that seemed as if she was walking on water. The page sighed, slightly envying the elegance that woman had for herself. Katara wondered, as she stood there with that scroll in her hand, if she would ever be able to have that much elegance beyond knowing when and how to speak.

" What are you doing this time?"

Katara looked up at the prince standing in front of her with his arms crossed over his chest. He had that same old annoyed expression on his face that the girl was tired of looking at. Either the Princess had a smirk on her face and having Katara do something stupid or the Prince had this annoyed expression – ready to _annoy_ her.

So Katara ignored him and rolled up the scroll.

" H-hey! Don't ignore me!"

She did ignore him.

" Come back here!"

She was walking away from him in that room. He sighed frustrated and ran after the girl. Seriously, why were girls so _weird_?! He grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards him, stopping her. She glared at him. What was _his_ problem today?

" Let go of me!" Katara said, pulling her arm from his grasp. " Now I can't be in the studies?!"

Zuko blinked at her reaction. He didn't mean to scare her or anything like that. All he wanted to know was what she was doing. He didn't expect her to react like this. Then again, she was a girl.

" I never said that." Zuko said. " All I asked you was what were you doing? You don't need to get all huffy about it." He rolled his eyes.

" You don't need to start demanding _either_."

" I-I was _not_ demanding. Stop putting words in my mouth!" He pointed to the scroll in her hand. " What's that."

" None of your business."

Zuko felt a headache coming on. He was only nine, about to be ten in a few months, and she gave him more stress than the servants. Second only to his sister of course. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, recollecting his thoughts. Katara stood there looking at him as if he was going to do something to harm her. He held his hands up.

" All I want to know is what that scroll is about." He opened his eyes. " I won't yell at you."

" Promise."

" I promise."

" Promise not to ask me something stupid _or_ to call me names?"

" I… uh…." He caught her glare and he sighed. " … Promise."

She looked at the scroll in her hand and handed it to Zuko. He took it, noticing how old the thing really was. What was so special about this scroll that she didn't want to tell him about was beyond him. The stupid thing was ripped on the ends and the paper was yellow. Besides, it even smelled! He gave her that ' What's so special about this ' look and she just sighed.

" I … can't read it." Katara said softly. " I can read like two … words and that's it."

" Oh." He paused. " Do you want me to read it to you?" Katara slowly nodded.

Delicately, Zuko slowly took the blue ribbon binding the scroll off and placed it in his pocket. He opened the scroll, taking notice that it had a bunch of pictures of various poses than words. Zuko knelt down and laid the scroll gently on the ground, reading over the slightly faded manuscript. He looked up at Katara, slight shock on his face.

" It's a waterbending scroll." He blinked. " Why would someone send you a_waterbending_ scroll?"

" Uncle, I mean, General Iroh sent me… the scroll."

" Why would he send you… this?"

Zuko was perplexed. He didn't understand why his own uncle would send his page a scroll with various waterbending moves. The girl barely knew how to read, she had only just begun school a few months ago, and she wasn't a waterbender….

Was she?

Katara walked over to Zuko's side and stood next to him. She pointed to a clear vase full of water and flower placed neatly in it. Zuko looked at the direction she was pointing at with full attention. The page closed her eyes and the water in the vase began to move. Slowly at first, water rocking against the confined space, and then the vase tipped over, water pouring out of it, on to the floor. Zuko was amazed. He truly was amazed.

" He… knew that I could… do that."

" How?" He looked at Katara. " How did he know?"

" Um…. H-he saw me try to clean a mess I made in the tearoom. I-I didn't know what I was doing, I just started doing it." She grabbed onto his arm, tugging it. " Please don't tell anyone. Even Azula, please, don't tell her about this."

" I didn't know you were a waterbender…."

The girl was still, looking at the Prince with fear in her eyes. " I didn't know either! I-I wish I wasn't then… then…"

" Why?" She blinked at his question. He looked at her, frowning. " Why do you wish you weren't a bender?"

" W-well… I mean…"

" A bender controls elements. To control an element means you are a powerful person. Nothing can come between you and something that you can control. It's a gift… not a punishment." He smiled. " Look here at these movements. Uncle wants you to master it. It's your right to master it."

" …. But waterbending is only done by our enemies…" Katara said softly as she observed the movements portrayed on the decaying scroll. "If they were to find out… would they arrest me?"

" You are a citizen of this nation and the page to my Uncle."

He placed a hand on top of her head, a gesture that Lu Ten would do to her when he was calming her down if she worried too much about something. Whether it'd be trivial about preparing Iroh's tea or getting lost in the palace. Her heart skipped a beat, reminded that Lu Ten was still out in war… far away from her. " You're safe with us."

Katara slowly nodded as Zuko removed his hand. He knelt down in front of the scroll and picked up, rolling it up carefully to not rip the delicate rice paper in the process. He took the blue ribbon out of his pocket and tied it around the scroll. He bopped Katara on the head with it, grinning. She slightly smiled as he handed her the scroll.

" If you want… I can train you." He said. " Teach you how to control it at least. I'm not a waterbender or anything but… I can at least try."

Katara glanced at the scroll in her hand. " Sure." She looked up at Zuko. " Thank you."

* * *

_Gradually building up their friendship. Whoo whoo. Thanks for all the reviews! Someone wished they aged faster -- It'd defeat the purpose of my story. Have patience. Um... another reader mentioned Katara's necklace; good eyes! It'll come into play. Finally someone reviewed with some obvious Avatar facts. No shit :( But its my story and its AU so I can make them how ever old or younger that I want them. :D_


	5. Birthdays

She never knew her birth date. It was quite a peculiar thought to come across – but the young five year old realized she never had a birthday. She knew she was five, yes, that was known. She knew she was taller, older, and in school as all young Fire Nation girls her age should be in. Now, Azula had her birthdays. She was born in the spring, ironic to say the least as her character absolutely contradicted what spring stood for. The palace would throw a celebration for the girl and she would take everything up, until there was nothing left.

It was her day, Katara would remember her say, and that on her day she had to do whatever she asked her to do. It was Azula's birthday that Katara grew accustomed to hiding away in Iroh's study.

She knew that Zuko was born in the summer. Quite the right season for the young crown prince. But, in many ways, Katara felt as if he would have been better off born in the spring. He was more passive, collective; much like his elegant mother who he always spent time with. The woman who she looked up to as a mother in her own eyes.

" I don't known when I was born." Katara said aloud to no one as she sat on a rock neck to the small pound behind. She had her legs cross and an arm resting on her knee, chin resting on the palm of her hand. The page was currently watching the prince practice his firebending. It was a mess, to say the least.

Zuko stopped for a moment and looked at the waterbender. " What do you mean you don't know when you were born?" He laughed, finding what she just said amusing. Katara frowned.

" What's so funny..?!"

" What made you think about your birthday." He straightened his posture and walked over to her.

" Your birthday is in two days. It made me think that I don't know when I was born…"

" Of course you do. It's in the fall."

" That's not my birthday!" Katara sighed. " That's the day Uncle, I mean—"

" It's okay if you call him Uncle." Zuko said, cutting her off. Katara blinked in mild shock and nodded.

" Um, Uncle…. Uncle said he found me and took me in. He told me he doesn't know when I was born… so he uses that day…"

" Then you have a birthday." Zuko scratched his head. What was she going on about now he had no clue. They had better things to do, like practicing bending. It wasn't as if they had all day to do it; especially since he snuck her into one of the royal gardens to do it so no one would find out about her bending.

" It's not the _same_."

" When that special day comes I'll try and make it special so it's like a birthday, okay?"

" Uh…"

" A gift or something. You're going to be six, right?" A nod. " Then I'll get you something nice for your sixth birthday."

" It's not my birthda—"

" To me it is." He smirked. " I'll have mom make you one of her little plum cakes. She does that for my birthday every year and trust me they're the _best_."

Katara smiled and Zuko looked away quickly, mumbling something under his breath. The stupid girl just had to smile to him about something as dumb as plum cakes. It wasn't like he was going out his way to like build her a house or something. Seriously, girls were really weird things. He grabbed her hand and pulled her up from her seated position on the rock.

" H-Hey!" She sputtered as she nearly lost balance from his sudden act.

" Come on, let's go over those moves I showed you from the scroll." She just stood there. " _Come on_ we don't have all day…!"

" A-alright! Sheesh!"

Katara tugged at her uniform, straightening it and ran her hands over it, smoothing out whatever wrinkles she got from sitting down. Zuko rolled his eyes as she did all of this, obviously she was just taking her sweet time. Finally Katara got into the basic waterbending position that she remembered from the scroll as Zuko did.

He did a smooth motion with his arms, swaying from side to side, as the scroll said. He looked over at Katara who was following the same rhythmic pattern.

" Push and pull is what the scroll said. _Waterbending is about push and pull_." He said. Katara nodded. " So I'm assuming that you must feel the water pushing and pulling within yo---Ah, you got it."

There were waves rippling in the water before finally gaining a steady form, rocking back and forth with the motions of Katara's hands. Zuko stopped what he was doing and looked at the girl standing next to him, impressed at how fast she was catching on.

" It wasn't like we weren't doing this for _days_, Prince Zuko." Katara said as she continued the pattern.

" A week to be exact, _Royal Page_ Katara."

" You may not be a _good_ firebender, _Prince_ Zuko, but you are a good teacher." She smirked.

" Well, you are still learning how to _play_ with water, _Royal Page_ Katara."

Katara flicked her wrist and a stream of water flew at the unsuspecting prince. He jumped at the sudden contact with cold, dirty, pound water. He wiped his face of the water and glared at Katara who was currently laughing. Now his clothes were wet – it was going to take a while just for it to dry now. She was still a brat, that girl.

" Who's playing with water now, Prince?"

" Hmph." He looked over at the scroll, at the next movement on the parchment. " We'll see about that."

If someone were to see the two from a distance they would see two children playing rather than one following the teachings of an instructor. The pupil would laugh, roll her eyes, or do something to make her instructor angry. The teacher would bite his tongue, close his eyes, or clench his hands into fists to not retaliate against the learning bender. Water is splashing in all sorts of directions and they're getting wet, but its all baby steps in mastering such a powerful element.

When the lessons are done it's the smile of accomplishment that is on that girl's face that has the young Prince proud at himself. He may be clumsy, he may not be a prodigy firebender like his sister, and he may always hide within the comfort of his mother but at least, _at least_, he knows that with this girl – his Uncle's page – he is successful in teaching her how to bend.

That, in its self, is an accomplishment in his mind.

--

" Why are you hiding in here."

Zuko finds Katara in a storage room near the kitchen, sitting on the floor with her knees brought up to her chest. She looks up at him, eyes brimming with tears, the whites of her eyes now pink from crying and he wonders what exactly happened. But the words that fall from his lips don't carry much tone of concern, " I've been looking all over for you."

It was his birthday; his ninth birthday to be precise. The palace was in celebration for the young Prince's day. The citizens in the street celebrated while nobles' and their family's visited the royal home to give the young prince his praise and basically weasel their way to the Fire Lord himself.

Katara had noticed he was wearing his best clothes. The intricate embroidery of dragons around the collar of his qipao top screamed of how much money and work was put into the top. Compared to Katara's regal outfit, she was just another palace member of higher status.

Zuko crossed his arms and slightly frowned. Why did she have to act up now? On his birthday of all days?!

" You could have at least said happy birthday to me." He said dully. Katara frowned.

" Shut up." She mumbled as she brought her head down again.

" What?" He sighed, frustrated. " It's my birthday. I mean, couldn't you save this for another day?"

There was another boom from the fireworks that were currently going off in his honor. The hallway was dark except for light of the half moon that shone through the creeks and windows that lined the hallways and the various glows of the colors from the display of fireworks. Katara jumped and scooted deeper into the closet. It didn't take a second before the Prince put two and two together.

" You're afraid of fireworks…" He said softly, though to himself. " Why?" She looked up at him.

" They remind me of something…" She said in-between sniffles. " Something long ago that I can't remember…. But it scares me whenever I do think about it."

" … I see."

" I remember these sounds. _Boom_. _Boom_. It was scary…. And I was in the dark… like this… it scares me… I don't like it! I don't like hearing these sounds!"

Zuko stands there looking at the girl who was younger than him, who had known since she was just three, and really doesn't know what to say or do. So, he hesitantly steps into the closet. " Um…" He holds his hand out in front of himself and a small flame appears above it, giving the darkened closet some light. " I'll… I'll stay in here… with you… until the fireworks stop…"

" Y-you will?" She wipes her eyes with the back of her long sleeved qipao. It's wet already from her tears and the fine red embroider silk was slightly dirty from the snot that had ran down her nose from her crying. He hesitantly nods. The Crown Prince of the Fire Nation was putting his own birthday party aside to care for a hysterical page who was deathly afraid of fireworks. Life certainly was never in his favor. " T-thank you…" She pauses. " …. Zuko."

Usually he would have yelled at someone for using his name without his proper title. But… it was different.

" No problem, Katara."

She was a friend.

--

Birthdays come and go and as you get older they seem to be just another day. His celebration came and went like a thief in the night. He was now nine and he felt no different than when he was eight. He was taller, slightly bigger, and closer to being ten… but that was it.

His days were repetition. Wake up, get dressed, have lessons, spend time with his mother… and teach a little girl how to waterbend in secret. At first it seemed hopeless trying to teach her how to bend. The fascination of actually making water move at her will and getting the prince drenched in water seemed more of a priority rather than actually learning the styles and disciplines the scroll had. Arguing would turn to laughter and laughter would become steps towards a mutual friendship.

But as the days continued, then on to weeks as the leaves begun the change and the weather began to cool, Katara had begun to get an understanding of her bending. She could move water where she wanted it to go, play with little droplets in the sky, or take a stream of water from a pound and make a whip out of it. Yes, it was small and basic moves for a waterbender but it meant so much to the little girl.

" Children," Ursa's voice had called as she approached the garden. She noticed how Katara had finally begun to spend more time with Zuko rather than with Azula, which the young girl physically showed no concern about it. The three looked up at the Fire Lady. " I… have bad news…"

She looked shaken and as if she had cried earlier within the day. Usually the Fire Lady held such elegance you would have not imagined that she could cry. In fact, you'd imagine that she would have been immune to such emotions. No one as pure as her would be able to know the word sadness.

" W-What's the matter, mom?" Zuko asked noticing his mother's state. She took a deep breath and exhaled, calming her shaken nerves.

" … You're cousin… Lu Ten…" She closed her eyes. " Has passed on at Ba Sing Se."

Katara nearly stumbled over as she took a few steps forward towards Ursa. She looked confused, or, she wanted to. " What do you mean… passed on?"

" He has died," Katara covered her mouth with her hand. " Katara, dear, he died."

" What do you _mean_ he's dead?!" Zuko yelled. His hands were clutched into fists, knuckles white from how tight. He looked down at the ground, body shaking from anger and shock. "He can't die… he's the future heir! Uncle's son! I-I…. He was always so perfect in what he done…. No one…. Why…."

" Why…. It's not fair…" Katara cried. The tears just kept falling and she didn't bother them to wipe them away. " H-he promised me. He said he was going to come back to me…!" She said inbetween sniffles. " Lu Ten would never break his promises!"

Ursa quickly ran over to the two children and knelt down in front of them. She took the two of them in an embrace, both crying into her shoulders. Finally the horrors of war came home – and to these children no less.

" It'll be okay…" Ursa said softly. " Sssh, it'll be okay."

Azula didn't say a think as she watched the two crybabies become so dramatic over the loss of Lu Ten. It was a war and with war people die. So what if he's gone? Didn't her idiot brother realize that he was now to be the next heir to the throne? What idiot would have not celebrated at that fact? Really, their grandfather would not keep Iroh at the throne with no one to continue the bloodline.

So she watched on, smiling to herself.

The future was going to be a beautiful one.

--

" Today marks the anniversary of the death of my wife and Katara…." A man said as he stood by the water's edge. He was a tall, built, man who the village regarded as their chief. When they were in trouble, he was there. When they needed supplies, he was there to get a team to go out and retrieve them.

That village in the South Pole regarded him as leader who would never let them down. Yet, the man himself always felt as if he let everyone down. He let _them_ down and he couldn't stand to live everyday with that fact. The fact that they were dead and he was still alive.

" It would be three years since that day…"

" It's not fair…" His son said as he stood next to his father. " The Fire Nation… taking even _children_. I wished every one of them _died_."

" … Sokka…"

A cold chill blew through from the ocean, cutting through their skin and into their bone. Yet, they simply stood there at the water's edge. Nothing… nothing could ever come close to the void that was in their hearts. The void that was put there by the Fire Nation.

* * *

_This is what you get when you try to write a story in between work. You forget the ages of your characters. Or how to add. Anyway, story is starting to progress. Next chappy is just gonna be a snowball of emotions within the palace family. Thanks for the reviews, yo! They keep me writing.  
_


	6. Lies

It took two days. That's how long it took a funeral procession for a member of the Royal Family. One day to mourn, the sunrise of the next day to burry the member, and then finally the wake afterwards. It was the first time in Katara's life that she had seen so much white in a land of red. It seemed, as she stood on that second step, below the royal family, next to the royal guards, that she was staring a sea of white. Almost reminding the girl of a place she had known once before… a place she couldn't figure out.

" Today we remember the Crown Prince Lu Ten." The high priest of the Fire Sages spoke aloud. The crowd was silent; the fire flickering and the embers cracking were the only things to be heard in the pavilion. " You were a son of Crown Prince Iroh and Princess Aila, now passed. Grandson of the Great Fire Lord Azulon, Nephew to Crown Prince Ozai and Princess Ursa. Cousin to Zuko and Azula." The sage lifted his hands up, as if he was making an offering to the heavens above. " He was a great solider and valuable citizen to this great nation."

Katara brought her hand to her mouth as two sages approached the ceremonial deathbed. It was empty since Lu Ten had died at Ba Sing Se, his final resting place would be in the Earth Kingdom, not the royal catacombs. She wanted to cry – yet, she couldn't. She had to hold it back, to not show weakness, to not show fear. She glanced over at Zuko and noticed how he stood there next to his mother, still. If he could do it, so could she.

The sages presumed the basic firebending stance. "You are now laid to rest." The bed was set aflame and Katara bit down on her palm to hold back the urge to scream. She did not realize she had broke the skin, seeing that numbed all her other senses.

He was not coming back. Lu Ten would never come back to her.

" You're bleeding." Zuko said to the girl as they walked side by side down the corridor. There was the wake now, where the nobles and other cabinet families of the royal house would send their condolences to the Fire Lord. It looked more like a celebration to the young girl, and she couldn't understand it. How could they celebrate the death of Lu Ten? Their _Prince_?! " You stained your robes."

" … I know." It was meek, quite, defeated. They were still wearing their white funeral clothes. It was heavy and thick compared to the warm Fire Nation fall. Katara's outfit was simple compared the Prince, who had gold trim and his crown on, yet it felt just as heavy as what he was wearing.

" Let me fix it." She didn't say anything. " … Katara." He grabbed her arm and she stopped walking, never looking up from the ground. The well polished wood floor reflected her face – her cheeks were stained from tears, eyes red from crying, face swollen. Her chignon was loose, threatening to fall from its hold. Katara looked like a complete mess for a six year old.

" Today is my birthday." She whispered as Zuko led her to an area in the hallway where they could sit. He didn't say anything as he sat her down on top of the small chair. " I'm six today."

" Happy Birthday." He honestly had forgotten. But who was to blame him? His cousin had just died. It was just a whirlwind of confusion within that palace. Zuko ripped a piece of cloth from the end of his robe, the white fabric fraying as he tore.

" He said, 'Katara, I'll be back for you and I'll bring you so many gifts you'd don't know what to do with yourself'." He gently took her injured hand into his and noticed the bite marks. He began to wrap the crude bandage around her hand slowly and gently.

" Yeah…"

" … Then he dies." She frowned. " By an arrow of a stupid Earth Kingdom solider. Not even an Earthbender." He tied the bandage. " I hate the Earth Kingdom."

" Me too…"

" I swear I'll get revenge for what they did." He let her hand go. " A-a-and if Uncle doesn't come back… I'll… I'll… make sure I'll kill the man who did it myself."  
" … Uncle isn't going to die, Katara." Zuko said. " He won't let some Earthbender kill him."

" … Lu Ten said he wasn't going to let some Earth Kingdom solider kill him and look what happened." She buried her face into her hands, not even minding the pain in her bandaged hand. " I want him to come home…. I want him to come home now…. I-I miss him." She choked a sob. " Come back… Please, come back….!"

All Zuko could do was just sit there and allow the girl to cry.

He couldn't do anything. " S-stop crying, Katara."

He wished he could. " K-katara, please…"

But he couldn't. He was only a nine-year-old boy who just lost his cousin. The closet thing he ever had to a brother… and so… he cried with the waterbender.

It was the only thing he could do.

--

" So, Lu Ten is dead."

It was three days after the funeral and things had resumed as if nothing happened. Well, to the young girl sitting the garden plucking at the green grass. Fire Nation custom was to have a week of mourning after the loss of a family member; but with the near success of the seig of Ba Sing Se, mourning had to be put aside. Capturing Ba Sing Se was more important that the death of the throne heir.

Azula frowned as she looked at the girl sitting near the pound. She wanted to annoy her. She wanted to get a reaction from her. Her protection was dead and the crazy old coot probably ended up dying with his son. At least the girl could have shown a little more 'umph' in the whole depression act. She crossed her arms and sighed, aloud, trying to get the girl's attention.

" He's not coming back, you know." She said. " He's dead."

" … I know." Katara finally said, plucking at the grass as if it did something to her. Zuko was at the other side of the pound feeding the turtle ducks by himself this time. He looked up at the two girls; Azula was up to no good.

" Wasn't he like a brother to you? I swear, you two were inseparable. I'm surprised Grandfather even allowed you near him." Nothing. " Now he's _dead_ and he won't be back. Pretty much means your special treatment is over."

" I'm General Iroh's page…. Lu Ten's death wont affect my position." Katara mumbled. Another piece of grass was uprooted.

" Azula…. Stop it." Zuko warned as he got up. The young princess smirked. Now she got her bother's attention. It was getting interesting.

" But, you know, considering how Lu Ten is now _dead_ it makes me wonder how Uncle's doing… you know… losing a son could … weaken a man in war." She grinned. " Maybe he's _dead_ as well!" Zuko looked at Katara, noticing how the water bender stopped pulling at the grass. Her hands went still and she began to breath heavily. "You know, can't think straight cause he son's dead can … be—"

" Shut up, Azula!" Zuko yelled. " Katara, just… just ignore her. She's lying. You know she always lie."

" I'm not lying." She brushed her bangs away from her eyes and crossed her arms again. " Uncle Iroh probably is _dead._"

Before Zuko could stop her, Katara abruptly stood up and spun around, a stream of water flowing out of the pound at her movement. It twisted around her body and above her head. The girl was crying as she clenched her hands into fists, the water separating and automatically freezing. Zuko gasped; when did she know how to do this?!

Azula just stood there in shock. She was a waterbender. The dirty peasant was a filthy waterbender! Azula barely had a chance to move as Katara unclenched her hands, the icicles now flying in Azula's direction. Suddenly, Katara was on the ground and the icicles lost their form, falling back to the ground as water. They were mere inches from Azula. She swallowed, shaking. The waterbender almost killed her.

" Katara!" Zuko yelled as he held her down. She was wailing now, tears just falling without any reserve. " Katara…. Katara…."

" … He can't be dead!" She cried. " He isn't dead…!"

" … Ssh." He whispered in her ear, trying to calm his friend down. " Azula always lies…." He looked at Azula, glaring. " Azula always lies…"

The Princess didn't say anything. She walked away, not once looking back at the two. Katara continued to cry as Zuko tried to comfort her – trying to get her to stop crying. Would there be a moment where the tears would run dry?

" …. Katara, how did you do that. Tell me, how did you do that?" Zuko asked. Katara shook her head. " Katara!" He whispered. " You almost killed her! Tell me why and how!"

" I don't know!" She snapped. " I don't know… I… I just did it."

Zuko sighed in defeat. This girl truly was an enigma. Just a few days ago she was bending little whips of water and making waves and now she was bending water into little, sharp, icicles. Could a waterbender really be that powerful? He shook his head at the thought. If they were so powerful, then an entire tribe wouldn't be entirely decimated.

Then again, the young boy failed to notice the faint glow of the moon in the midday sky.

-

The Commander walked through the halls of the Fire Nation palace as if he expected the servants to bow at his mere presence. No one did such and he merely continued walking. The mere thought of knowing that one day these people would be bowing the moment he entered these halls was satisfying enough. It'll only be a few more yes, just a few more, and then that day will come.

Commander Zhao was a young man. Egotistical, brilliant, and extremely power hungry. He was once under General Iroh's command until he gained another promotion from Lieutenant to Commander. Such rapid promotion was unheard of for a man his age – especially considering the length of his military career already.

It had been a week since the death of the Crown Prince Lu Ten, a day that the Commander would remember as he was there when it happened. Well, he wasn't there, but he was close by – close enough by Zhao's standards. After that incident, the entire front's demeanor had changed. The siege had taken a turn for the worst. The Earth Kingdom was finally getting back on his feet.

The great General fell apart.

" … Ah…" Zhao said as he saw a young girl walking solemnly down the hall. He recognized the mocha colored skin, the thick dark hair, and the blue eyes. Yes, she was the 'page', the ticket to his success. " Katara, is it?" He said as the page passed the him. She stopped and turned around. She remembered that face… somewhere.

" Yes…" She replied. He stepped towards her. She felt intimidated. He was tall and large and his military uniform made him seem ruthless. For some reason he made that uniform look evil.

" Pardon my rudeness, I'm Commander Zhao." He said. " I believe… we met a few years ago."

Katara blinked, then, it clicked. " … Ah… I remember you."

" I'm sure." He smiled, it didn't reach his eyes. " General Iroh has said much about you. You are growing up to be quite a young lady."

" … Th-thank you." She bowed.

" How has your waterbending been progressing?" She gasped. How did he know? Did Iroh actually tell him about her bending?

" I-I… I… It…." She licked her lips. " … Fine, sir."

" That's good to hear. You know… you may prove to be a great addition to the military one day." He grinned, her heart skipped a bit. He scared her. " Well, I'll be going now. I have some work to do."

" Good day, sir." She said bowing.

" Same to you." He walked all leaving the girl behind staring at him.

Yes, she would be a great tool for the army. The moment she mastered her bending would be the day he would use her to destroy the Water Tribes. Once those tribes fell he would be held at the highest honor – even higher than a dragon slayer. Yes, soon, those peasants would be bowing to him. Just a few more years and this nation would be his.

--

" … He called off the siege…" Azulon's old voice was on edge. They almost had Ba Sing Se! " … He didn't even bother to have someone replace him. That foolish boy!"

" Father… if you may allow me to interject—"

" Silence, Ozai!"

The flames around his throne roared at the outburst. Prince Ozai swallowed his pride and nodded, settling back down. He closed his eyes and took deep breaths, trying to calm his nerves. Fire Lord Azulon, his father, never really considered Ozai in anything. To Azulon, Ozai was just a power hungry and naïve boy. He never considered the repercussions of his actions; Azulon had realized to not use this to his advantage. Ozai would hurt his kingdom, this much he was certain.

" We must pull back for now and try to figure out a way to take down Ba Sing Se…" Azulon said, running a hand through his beard. " Someone to replace Iroh…. He's not stable since Lu Ten passed."

" But Father, it was clearly stated in his message that his army has already begun to pull out. By now they should be days away from Ba Sing Se now…" Ozai said trying to convince Azulon of the failure his brother was. " … Ba Sing Se has been lost."

" I refuse to believe that!" Ozai bit his lip. " It's been two hundred days; I will not lose to that fortress!" Azulon frowned. " Leave me, Ozai. I must think this over."

The Prince hesitated at first, but slowly stood up. " As you wish, Father."

" So, what has he said?" Zhao said looking at his calloused hands. Ozai scoffed as he frowned. The old man had lost it, just like his idiot brother.

" He's thinking about it." Ozai said dully. " We have Ba Sing Se in our _hands_and he wants to think about it."

" Sir, I believe he just wants Iroh to have the glory of Ba Sing Se for himself… seeing how he is heir to the throne. It'd be a … nice tidbit to add to the history books." The Prince laughed. Truly, what a ridiculous idea.

" Iroh lost his seat. His son is dead, he has no bloodline to continue." Zhao raised an eyebrow.

" Are you saying you're now heir?"

" No." Ozai began to walk away. " But that doesn't mean I won't be by the time he comes back."

Zhao sighed as he watched the retreating figure of the royal prince. For as long as he remembered being under Iroh's command, those two were always competing. More so that it was Ozai competing with his older brother, Iroh. He was interested and seeing how this was to turn out. Ozai truly believed he was to be named heir. Truly, this week would prove to be eventful for the young commander.

" Where's my knife?" Zuko asked his sister. She blinked, smiling innocently. Zuko wanted to slap that smile off her face.

" I don't know." Azula lied. " Why would I want a stupid knife anyway?"

" Because I know you'd take it." He glared she merely brushed it off.

" Why do you think I'd take it? Honestly, Zuzu, have you ever considered that… Waterbender?"

" … Katara would never do such a thing. She isn't like you." Azula crossed her arms. Her brother was a pathetic fool.

" You're blinded by that girl."

" She's my friend."

" It's like you like her something."

" No I don't!" Zuko wanted to punch his sister. She was _so _annoying! How could she possibly think that he had a crush on Katara? That girl was a friend! Liking a friend was unheard of! " Just give it back!"

" What is going on here?" Ursa said as she stepped in on the fighting siblings. Azula grabbed Zuko's arm and pulled him towards her. She smiled and batted her eyelashes at her mother. Zuko tried to pull himself away but Azula squeezed on his arm tighter, causing the young boy to yelp.

" Just having a brotherly-sisterly talk. That's all." Ursa knew it was something else but didn't bother to step in that territory. There was other stuff on her mind and that could wait.

" Your father has requested a meeting with the Fire Lord, so best clothes everyone."

Ursa stepped out of the room as quickly as she came and Azula released Zuko. She smirked and Zuko raised an eyebrow.

" What?" He asked, curious at what the girl was thinking about now.

" … Daddy is going to try and win over Granddaddy for the throne." She smirked. " Best clothes, Zuzu." She ran out the room.

" … Crazy girl."

--

Zuko didn't understand the purpose of the meeting that his father had called. It seemed more like a showcase of how brilliant and talented his daughter, Azula, was rather than including his son in any of it. So, he sat there, mentally mulling over how humiliating it was to be out performed by his younger sister. His mother placed a comforting hand on top of his, assuring him that he wasn't the loser he thought he was.

Fire Lord Azulon was not impressed. Between the loss of his grandson, the failed siege of Ba Sing Se, and the fact that no one would be able to replace Iroh's command over there. He patience was tried. He sent them all out, except for Ozai, who pleaded the real reason for why he wanted to speak to his father. Azula had dragged her bother behind the curtains to listen but Zuko didn't want to hear anymore. His father's quest for the throne was enough to know -- and his grandfather's temper was something he did not want to witness.

" Daddy's going to kill you." Azula sung. Zuko glared at Azula from his bed. What was she going about now? Why would his father kill him?

" Get out, Azula." Zuko warned.

" Well, Grandaddy told Daddy to kill you. He said that he needed to understand the pain Uncle is going through and that killing you would be his punishment." She laughed. Zuko paled. " Da-ddy is going to ki-ll you!"

" Get out!!" Zuko threw his pillow at the door where Azula was standing at as she ran out laughing. He laid back down on his bed and covered himself with the light blanket. His father would never kill him. He was his only son, his first-born. Ozai would never kill his son.

" Azula always lies, Azula always lies…" He repeated to himself.

She always did lie.

* * *

_I didn't want to repeat the events in the show. You already seen it, I already seen it, so I'm fast forwarding and taking liberties to fit my story. I read up somewhere that when a Waterbender's emotions get in the way and they are not properly trained -- their bending can get out of control. I decided to take liberties with that with Katara's case. She knows enough but she doesn't know control. Slowly but surely Katara is starting to grow hate for other nations ... but will she ever hate her own? Looking for a beta reader!  
_


	7. Comfort

" Sit up straight."

" Don't slouch."

" You are the page to the Crown Prince Iroh, know your place and responsibility!"

It sounded like the same woman to the six-year-old girl but every time she would glance up there would be two old women. The two, identical in face, body and dress. They were her new instructors about court ethics and behavior – Katara was now becoming of age was she was needed in court functions. She had to know how to act as a page, now that Iroh was finally coming home.

" Yes, Lady Li and Lady Lo." Katara said. She bowed her head, looking down at boots.

" Head up." Li said sharply. Katara did it on command.

It had been one eventful week for the girl. The one she held close to her as if he was a brother, Lu Ten, had died in war. Lu Ten, the sweet young man who she had known since she arrived at the Fire Nation, was no longer with her to play with her, tell her stories of lands he had visited, and make jokes about the cranky court officials.

The prince was the only 'human' she had known in these walls. The only one who saved her from Azula's games, the one who would hit Zuko for her whenever he said something dumb, and the one who would always help her feed the turtle ducks when Ursa wasn't around. Now, he was gone to the Spirit World.

He would never come back. It was such a simple fact to know but it was so hard for the girl to come to terms with. Slowly she tried to grab a hold reality and try to make sense of it… but it refused. Despite Zuko's help and trying to give the girl ground to stand on, the thought of knowing that Lu Ten would not be there to give her his smile, his hugs, and his affection would probably haunt her forever.

" Child," Lo slapped Katara on top of her head with a fan taking the six year old out of her thoughts. " Recite the Fire Nation oath."

Mindlessly the waterbender recited the oath. A paragraph of words dedicating her loyalty to the great Fire Nation and its Fire Lord, a man she never met. She had met him, once, but a three year old couldn't remember the face of a man hidden behind flames. Katara didn't realize how fluid the oath came from her lips or how many times she had recited the oath in her time in the nation. It was like a second nature, it was apart of her. It spoke of her loyalty to this land.

" … to the Fire Nation." Katara finished. The impressed expressions on the twin faces of Li and Lo made the girl slightly relaxed. They were always stoic and intimidating – the look of appreciation was always something refreshing for the young page in training to witness.

Li walked over to Katara and circled the girl. She stopped in front of Katara and looked down at the girl. Her hair was neatly pulled back into a simple chignon on the top of her head, held together with a simple red ribbon. It was painful at first, but the young girl ended up getting used to her hair being tightly styled. It was the high collar of her uniform that begun to bother her. Mentally she wanted to just scratch her neck but she knew Li would slap her hand for it.

Delicately, long old fingers lifted Katara's head up to face Li. The old woman smiled, " I have heard that you are a waterbender."

" Y-yes…." Katara replied with hesitation.

" I've been ordered by Fire Lord Azulon himself to train you." She didn't sound all that amused or ecstatic to teach a peasant girl waterbending as she removed her hands from under the girl's chin, but if the Fire Lord requested it then she had to do what she must. " Lo and I will do our best to train you as a waterbender with what we are provided with."

Katara blinked. Why did everyone in this house wanted to teacher her waterbending and how come they all _knew_?

" Do you understand, child?" Lo said.

" … Yes, Milady." Katara said.

" Everyday at this time report to us in the garden." Katara nodded. " We will not tolerate tardiness."

Katara nodded again. They were strict and merciless and Katara knew this. Rather than suffer a beating from the two old women she had no other choice then to do what they said. Maybe this was the reason to Azula's merciless behavior.

As Li walked away to join her sister's side, a door swung open. Katara jumped at the sound and the two older women slowly turned around to noise, not phased by it. At the door was a young man, probably no older than sixteen, standing and panting. Li raised her grey eyebrow at the palace messenger. It wasn't even midday and already there was a racket.

" T-t-the Fire Lord has died!" He sputtered out in between pants and gasps for air. The calm and collected faces of the two sisters blinked. The Fire Lord had been in perfect health, why did he suddenly die?

" Are you sure…?" Li slowly asked with skepticism. The messenger nodded his head quickly.

" He was found in his sleeping chambers!" The messenger paused for a moment to regain some composure. " And Crown Princess Ursa had disappeared!"

" The Princess has disappeared?!" Lo asked shocked at the turn of events.

" Yes, Milady!"

" … Two dead royals and a missing Princess…" Li said to herself. " Thank you, boy." The Messenger bowed before running back out, not even closing the door, to deliver the message.

Lo didn't like she was disturbed as her sister joined her side. The old woman placed her hands behind her back and sighed. Her identical sister did the same thing. They were really a mirror of each other.

" The house is in a state of chaos now." Lo said, voice unraveled. Li nodded.

" The Princess is gone and Prince Iroh is still in the Earth Kingdom…"

" … Which means Prince Ozai would be standing as Fire Lord until Prince Iroh's return." Lo finished. Li glanced over at Katara.

The waterbender looked like she was about to cry. Now both Ursa and Lu Ten were gone. Who was going to be next? Was this a coup? Was someone trying to kill off the family? Li sighed and looked back at her sister.

" Straighten, child." She said. " Looks like you're going to be a page a lot sooner than we had expected."

None of what the old woman said registered in Katara's head. All she could think of was that Ursa was gone. Princess Ursa, the kind woman who had taken care of her as if she was one of her own children was gone. Iroh was weeks away from coming home and the only person she trusted was too caught up in his own problems. Life was not fair.

--

Katara had saw Zuko sitting by himself under a tree near the pound she would see Ursa sit under as she walked over to her room. It was where she had spent the majority of her time in since Lu Ten's death. It kept her from dealing with everyone else in the house. The looks, the questions, the pity.

It had looked like the young prince was sitting there for a while, merely looking at the water. Katara took the initiative to see him – he probably had just found out that his grandfather and mother were gone. If she was taking it hard, imagine how he was taking it? Zuko was the closest person to Ursa than her own husband. Katara sat down next to him silently, not to disturb him.

" Mom's gone." Zuko said softly as he brought his knees up to his chest.

" … I heard." Katara said, running her small hand through the cool water of the pound they were sitting next to.

" I asked Dad where she was…" He lowered his head, resting it on his arms that were on top of his knees. " He said he didn't know. That she left."

Katara did say anything. She was hurt as much as him after all of this that had happened over the past week. She sighed as a family of turtle ducks came swimming towards the two, the mother leading the four children. It was about that time, Katara realized, looking up at the sky. Almost midday.

She dug into her pocket of the pants she wore, searching for something she may had put in there for the ducks to eat and shook her head at the mother turtle duck when she couldn't find anything for the bird to eat. The turtle duck just swam closer to the edge despite Katara's message.

" I don't have anything for you today…" Katara said sadly. Zuko didn't look up. " I'm sorry."

The duck quacked in response as if it was telling Katara that she didn't understand. Why would they understand? For as long as Katara remembered, Ursa had always fed the turtle ducks at this time of day. It was like the family of ducks was trained to come out at this time of day and wait for the bread that the princess would give them.

" I'm sorry…" Katara said again, almost pleading. The turtle ducks wouldn't back down.

Katara felt Zuko shift beside her. She turned around and noticed that he was searching his pockets for something. Then, he pulled out a small, hard roll of bread and broke the piece in half, flakes flying everywhere. He handed Katara the other half and broke a piece off of his half, throwing it into the water. One of the baby ducks swam towards the piece, eating it instantly.

" You…" Katara breathed.

Zuko continued to feed the turtle ducks without replying. Katara looked away and began to do the same. Piece by piece, slowly, one after another they would get fed. He brushed his hands off when he finished giving them his piece and rested them on his knees. Katara handed the mother duck the last of her bread and brushed her hands off of the bread.

" She may not be here anymore…" Zuko said softly. " But I'm not going to stop feeding the turtle ducks."

Katara placed her hand on Zuko's shoulder and squeezed it reassuringly. The boy hunched over as if he was defeated and Katara couldn't do anything but watch. One tear landed on his hand… then another…. Until he began to cry silently to himself. Katara bit back the urge to cry. He put up with her hysterics when Lu Ten passed now it was her turn to help Zuko get through his moment of pain.

So she sat there, assuring him that things were going to be okay. She couldn't promise him that because no one knew what the future held. The future would always be clouded.

--

It was a whirlwind of events. Iroh had lost his seat on the throne within a blink of an eye and it was Prince Ozai, Zuko's father, that proudly wore the golden crown of flames on his topknot. Zuko became the heir apparent and it seemed as if, in one night, Katara's world had made a drastic one-eighty.

It was funny to say that it had been two weeks ago that the Fire Lord had died mysteriously (it was said to be in his sleep) and the Princess Ursa had left without a trace. Ironic to say that it was nearly three weeks ago since the passing of Lu Ten and the fight for the throne began. Now everything was finally getting back on track. The tears had stopped; the dead haze that loomed over the palace was lifted.

" Sloppy!" Katara held her wrist where Li had slapped it, wincing. The old woman was frowning at the six year old. " How many times must we go over this until you get it?!"

" I'm sorry, Lady Li." Katara said.

" Stop cradling that wrist and resume the position."

Katara had been practicing her waterbending with Li three days after the funeral of Azulon and the coronation of Ozai. It wasn't like practicing with Zuko where it was more enjoyable to know that they were almost on the same level. No, it was harsh and rigorous and the woman wanted perfection. For some reason, as Katara went over the moves that she was taught from the scroll Iroh had given her, it was as if she was forcing to do the moves rather than it be fluid.

Waterbending was all about the push and pull of the waves and the moon. About being quick and fluid, yet, when Li was training her it seemed she was waterbending with the aggressiveness of a firebender. Twists and turns were sharper, flicks of the wrists were keener and the fluid behavior of the bending seemed to be minimized to short, quick, and effective moves. It didn't feel right to the girl.

Katara summoned the water from the vase that was next to her and reached back with the water floating above her hand. Then, quickly, she flicked the water out like a whip, pulling back with the equal amount of speed. She sent the water back into the vase and looked at Li. The old woman had a cryptic smile on her face.

" Yes, child." She grinned. " Like that."

Katara slowly smiled. They had been going over the same move for the past two weeks, Li refusing to teach her anything else on the scrolls until she mastered that simple water whip. Li walked over to the waterbender and looked over her person, trying to find anything that got misplaced in the move. She turned around and walked back to her previous spot in the room.

" You have a hair out of place." Li said. " But other than that… it was a perfect execution." Katara blinked. A hair?! Katara wanted to send a water whip flying right at that old woman's head but bit back her pride and merely bowed.

" Yes, Lady Li."

An old man hummed a tune to himself as he walked through the halls of the Fire Nation palace unaccompanied by anyone. He was smiling to himself despite the pain and suffering he had endured in the Earth Kingdom. General Iroh had finally returned home, but not the same man and not to the same country in which he had left.

He knew he had lost his seat on the throne, it was something his brother had been aching to get since they were children. Ozai was an opportunist and Iroh knew that his younger brother had managed to jump on the opportunity that was open to him. He didn't understand how their father passed but he didn't put it past his brother to conceive such a plot to kill off their father and take the throne while he wasn't their to secure it.

But a nation was not what Iroh wanted. Now that his son was gone, he had no other purpose. There was much more to life than war and conquest as he had witnessed on his journey back to the Fire Nation.

" … U-uncle?" A young girl dressed in the stiff, heavy, school uniform asked in disbelief. She stood there in that hallway, bringing a shaking hand over her mouth.

The old man nodded, grinning and held his arms open. Without hesitation Katara ran down the hallway and into his arms. He embraced her as she clung onto him, shaking and choking back sobs.

" I'm back, little Katara…" He said softly for only she could hear.

" Welcome home."

* * *

_I ran into some writer's block. I am still running into some writers block. I'm trying to figure out a way to transition into Arc B smoothly and... its getting harder. It was just a pain to try and get Iroh back into the picture. It's also hard to write Katara and Zuko in a way that makes them close but not romantically. I am trying so hard not to do a " TEN YEARS LATER " and start the boinking with them :P. I decided to throw Li and Lo in there because they were Azula's teachers and I feel that since they're prepping Katara to be a killing machine, those crazy sisters would be perfect in getting Katara to be ruthless with her bending. **Um, read and review.** For those who wished to beta, I'll contact you guys soon. If anyone has ideas or comments or concerns shoot them at me. Oh, by the way, its winter in the Fire Nation now..._


	8. Burns

**Where Loyalties Lie  
**_Chapter Eight_

" Tea, my little Katara, is the key to peace and serenity within ones self." Iroh said as he walked in front of the ten-year-old girl with his finger held up, eyes closed, as if he were reciting an old saying. She nodded, taking in the information, as she held a box of various teas in her hand.

It was a hot summer day in the Fire Nation's capital. If you looked the distance, you'd actually see the heat rising off of the stone floors of the city. It was dry and felt like they were baking in an oven… but it was a Fire Nation summer, in the valley of the volcano, the perfect day, as Iroh said, to go shopping.

It had been, almost, routine since Iroh's return that the two had to indulge in personal gratification and go shopping in the city's market. In the beginning, Katara was shocked when the old man had first invited her. She had rarely stepped outside of the palace and Iroh had only gone when it was needed. Now, it was every week that she was outside shopping, talking to the locals, and getting a feeling of what the Fire Nation is like outside the wood and marble walls of the palace.

The sun was baking her toes that were exposed from the sandals she wore. She wiped the beads of sweat on her brow and looked up at Iroh. Whenever the royal family went out, they had the luxury of someone holding an umbrella over their heads in the heat. Pages were also lucky to have the luxury if the royal thought it was worth it… But Iroh, since he came back, had begun to deal less and less with royal behaviors and acting more like a commoner. Katara was beginning to wonder if he lost his title. He never mentioned anything to her when he came back.

" Can we stop a bit, Uncle?" Katara whined as she shifted the light box of teas in her arms. The old general turned around and chuckled.

" Yes, little Katara." He took the box of teas gently from her hands and led the two to a shaved ice stand down the alley they were walking in. 

She sat down on one of the benches outside of the small stand and kneeled over, rubbing her sore and burning toes. Katara felt Iroh sit down next to her, placing the tea box gently on his lap as if it had gold inside. She sat up and sighed, leaning backwards. Her light red sleeveless qipao top was sticking to her sweat slicked skin and her black pants felt icky. It was really too hot of a day in the Fire Nation.

" It's hot…" She mumbled. Iroh chuckled.

" Five years and you still haven't got used to it yet." 

" It's not that I'm not used to it, Uncle. It's that it's _way_ _too_ hot outside."

" So, my dear, how has training with Lady Li and Lo been?" He ran a hand over the smooth surface of the box cover. " You seemed relieved when I excused you from lessons today to go shopping with me." 

Katara laughed nervously. Training with the two old ladies proved to be a tedious session rather than an enjoyable one. Perfection was the goal with the two and Katara had no room for error. Quick, sharp, and smooth movements was what the girl had to learn how to do in order to please the fickle twins. It was bothersome to say the least. 

" It's going well." Katara said, scratching the back of her head. " The same… old… lessons…" She rolled her eyes.

" I can tell that you do not like it…." Iroh had teased with a smirk. She looked up at him, pouting.

" How so?" 

" You roll your eyes when you lie." He ruffled the top of her hair. " So predictable, little one." She laughed nervously and looked at her hands, calloused from the extensive training the two women made her do.

" I guess I am…." 

The streets were loud with people. Merchants were yelling out their sales for the day as wives gossiped about the latest dirt on their neighbors. The various animals could be heard making their loud noises and the strong smell of spices and food being made screamed of how alive the marketplace really was. The two simply sat there, taking in the scene before them. It was a striking contrast compared to the palace, where everything seemed so devoid of… life.

" Order is up!" The owner of the shaved ice stall yelled out. Katara wiped her eyes and Iroh placed a hand on her shoulder. A young couple stood up next to them and walked over to the stall picking up their order.

" Come on," Iroh said as he slowly stood up. " We have more shopping to do!"

She smiled as she stood up, watching him adjust the straw hat he was wearing. The two then began their shopping adventure, stepping into the hot baking sun of the Fire Nation. People paid the two no mind as they continued their daily routines, not noticing the foreign girl window show with the old, simple dressed, man. It was a different feeling for them. During those times, the eyes weren't on them. They were actually free.

--

" A Crown Prince must be a well trained warrior," Zuko said as he went through a series of basic firebending moves. " A warrior must lead a nation."

" Right…" Katara said as she sat on a large stone, head resting in her hands, as she watched him in complete boredom.

It was another day in the Fire Nation palace. Wake up, get dressed, have breakfast and tea with Iroh, have lessons, and spend the rest of the day lulling around the palace in Zuko's company. As the years continued, the Prince was more headstrong about being the right future Fire Lord that their days of fun and games were slowly diminishing. Katara didn't understand it at first, feeling as if Zuko had begun to slowly distance himself from her.

But Iroh would constantly remind her that he was getting older and with age comes responsibility and with responsibility comes a time where fun and games must cease. Yet, he was thirteen, why did his childhood had to stop now? Honestly, the Fire Lord had a council, what difference did it make if he was strong or weak? It wasn't like he was making all of the rules.

" This is boring." Katara sat up and crossed her arms. " I'm tired of watching you dance in front of me." Zuko stopped and looked at Katara, frowning. The ten-year-old girl was not fazed by it. 

" It's not_dancing_." He said. " It's firebending moves."

" Looks like dancing to me." She scratched her upper left arm and yawned.

" Waterbending is dancing." He said slowly. Katara stopped scratched her arm and glared at Zuko. 

" Waterbending is_not_ dancing." She stood up. " It's controlling the pull of water."

" Same thing."

Katara crossed her arms. " How!" She blinked. " How can that possibly be the same thing!"

" Because I said so!" He pouted. " Firebending is stronger than waterbending_anyway_!"

" What!" She assumed a waterbending position. " You know what, I'm going to make you eat those words, you little brat."

" You refer to me in the right title, page!" Zuko assumed a firebending position. He was going to teach this girl a lesson. He was sure of it.

" Make me, jerk!"

She commanded a stream of water to follow her as she ran towards the crowned prince, the water quickly turning into a whip, glistening in the sun's rays. He instantaneously began to launch his flames towards her, trying to knock her off of her feet, but she easily dodged them. To the left, to the right, a twist… and then…

She jumped up, somersaulting over him, and landed behind him. All he could see was a trail of water flowing over his head and her body before it. It caught him off guard. When was she ever that good? He quickly turned around and felt a cool liquid wrap around his bare ankle. Zuko flipped on his back as she pulled the whip back, knocking him over. Katara retracted the whip from his ankle and ran over, standing over him.

" Waterbending is dancing?" She smirked as stood over him, the water snaked up her left arm. He winced and blinked a bit, trying to get a hold of his surroundings and to ignore the banging sensation in the back of his head. " Well?"

He didn't say anything in response, lying on his back, with his eyes closed. She leaned forward, observing him to make sure that he was at least breathing. Katara didn't honestly believe that he hurt him that bad. He was the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation; at least he could take a blow like that and be back on his feet. If not, this nation was going to be in for quite a time if he took the throne.

" … Zuko?" She said with hesitation now worried. Maybe Katara did hurt him. Maybe he was never going to recover from this and they were going to arrest her! 

Then, without a blink of hesitation, the prince quickly got up and with him came a fury of flames. Katara quickly held her hands up in front of her in defense, losing focus on her bending, the water falling to the floor as she scurried back from the flames. She screamed as the flames licked against her small hands. Katara stumbled backwards and fell down as the flames disappeared, tears running down her cheeks, her hands burned. Red and blistered.

Zuko crossed his arms and smirked, not realizing what he had done. " And…?" He looked down and finally noticed the crying girl on the grassy floor, holding her hands out in front of her. She was shaking from the pain, biting her lips, wanting to wipe the salty tears from her eyes but unable too. " Oh Agni….!" 

He grabbed her wrist and pulled her up off the ground. " Come on….!" He said nervously. His heart was racing – he didn't mean to hurt her. Oh, he wouldn't have dared on hurting her. She was his friend, his best friend. Hurting her was the least of his intentions. Zuko quickly pulled her into the pound with him, the mildly deep water coming up to their knees as he continued deeper into the water with her in tow, screaming and crying. It was unbearable and the skin was beginning to peel.

" Katara…" He said to her, she didn't listen. " Katara! Listen… listen to me!" She looked up at him with red, swollen eyes. " I'm going to put your hands in the water."

He didn't know what he was doing and he didn't know if this was going to work. But if water and put out flames then water could probably, at least, ease the pains of a burn until he can find help to ease the burn wound. " I'm going to find help… jus-just keep your hands in the water. It'll… numb the pain."

He placed her hands in the cool pound water and looked up at Katara as he let her wrists go. Her tears stopped as she was sniffling. He brought his attention back to the water and noticed a faint glow around her hands. He blinked as the glow got brighter and then, after a few moments, disappeared. Katara slowly raised her hands out of the water and looked at them. The pain was gone, the burns were gone; it was if she was never burned.

" …. What did you do…?" Zuko asked in mild bewilderment. She shook her head.

" I-I don't know."

He grabbed her hand and looked at it, running his thumb over the newly healed skin of her palm. It was soft and smooth, not even having the littlest evidence that she had been terribly burned. It was so… strange… Katara had healed herself. He was always taught that waterbenders were very adaptive and quick warriors, but he never knew that they were able to heal themselves as well. 

" I'm sorry…" He said as he released her hand. " I'm so sorry." 

She paused looking down at her healed hands as she tried to put together what had happened, " … It's alright…"

" I promise," He placed his hands on her shoulder and she looked up at him. " Not to let you suffer like that again. I swear to it."

All she could do was nod. She knew that he kept his promises, he always did, and that's why she always considered him her best friend. But that pain – that pain of her skin burning, the stinging pain of her skin bubbling and blistering would always be in her memory. That smell of burning flesh – a smell that would never leave her memory… that was always in her memory. Could he protect her from that?

--

" You know something, General? I've heard from Lady Li and Lady Lo that she's turning out to be quite the …. Fighter." 

Commander Zhao said as he brought a delicate cup of tea to his lips. Iroh raised an bushy eyebrow, as he poured himself a cup of his own, at the topic of conversation the young commander had started. Iroh brought the cup of hot liquid to his nose and sniffed the light aroma of the jasmine tea. Perfect, the old General thought to himself as he brought the cup to his lips and took a sip. Iroh placed the cup delicately on top of the table between them and looked at the general.

" Yes, yes she is." Iroh said. 

" Almost comparable to," Zhao took a sip. " Princess Azula."

" Only in skill, I must stress." Iroh thanked the gods that Katara did not gain Azula's character. That girl was certainly a devil in disguise. 

" Of course, General. We do know that a waterbender can not have the mental prowess like a Fire Nation royal." Zhao placed his cup down on the cherry oak table and placed his hands on his lap. " To be honest, General, you do know that her day is coming… right?"

" …. Hmm… is that so…" Iroh said as he reached for his cup. " And what day would be that be, Commander Zhao?"

" You are joking, are you?" Zhao laughed, shaking his head at the obscurity of where the direction of the conversation was going. " The day she belongs to me."

" Oh, the day that you plan on making her slaughter her own people?" Iroh took a sip from his tea. " Honest—"

" She is not going to slaughter them." Zhao had cut him off, slightly frowning. " She is going to open their defense."

" Either way, Commander, it's the same thing. Have you ever taken the time to figure out how you're going to convince this child how to do that? What makes you think that the moment she steps onto that snow and ice that she won't hesitate and join them? What makes you think that she won't turn her back on _you_?"

" That was the reason why Fire Lord Azulon left her to you." Zhao slightly leaned forward, glaring at the old general in front of him. " So that it_wouldn't_ happen."

" I raised her to be a member of the court – and that is what she has become. My page."

" Have you not forgotten why that girl's life was spared?" Zhao stood up. " So she can destroy that barbaric society of the North." 

" Oh, I'm sorry…. I tend to forget things with old age, Commander."

" General Iroh," Zhao said sharply as he eyed the old man sitting down in front of him, cradling a now luke-warm cup of tea in his hands. " The day when I finally set sail to destroy the Northern Water Tribe is the day I take that girl. Nothing you can say or do is going to stop me."

Iroh didn't flinch at the Commander's words. Instead, he took a sip from his tea with a calmness that seemed to breeze over the sharp and quick words. He placed the fine china cup on the table and reached for the teapot.

" Likewise, Commander Zhao, likewise." He began to pour himself another serving of his favorite tea.

" … She'll never be Lu Ten." Iroh froze in place. He didn't look up at Zhao as he took a step backwards. Nor did he notice that his cup began to overflow of tea. " Stop protecting her as if she was." He bowed. "If you may excuse me."

Zhao left the room, leaving the old Prince alone with his demons. He slowly placed the teapot on top of the table and placed his hands on his lap. Iroh glanced down, looking at his old, aging hands, and gripped the soft fabrics of his robes and closed his eyes. He knew that she was never going to be Lu Ten – no one could be his replacement. Lu Ten was a person all in himself, but, he could at least protect her so she did not suffer the same fate as his son.

Yet, still, that did not stop the tears he choked back. Lu Ten would never come back. He was never coming back.

Zhao smirked as he walked down the grand halls of the palace. He knew how to break that old man – it never failed him. Iroh had lost everything, if the disgraced Prince thought he had some pull in the eyes of the court and his own brother, the Fire Lord himself, then he was sadly mistaken. Zhao was on a road of victory; he was not going to let no one get in his way. He had a destiny to fulfill and that water tribe girl was the path to his destiny.

The Commander reached into the pocket inside the sleeve of his robe and pulled out a blue silk necklace with a delicate, soft, blue carved stone hanging from it. He ran his hands over the blue stone as he thought about that girl and how important she was to him. Yes, in a matter of time, that girl was going to be his and his key to his future.

* * *

_Well, another chapter done. Finally. (Doesn't help I've been playing brawl like a crack addict) Thanks to all the reviews! I realized I have some minor inconsistencies __with Avatar canon but w/e its AU anyway. Well, Zutara will be happening soon as we're getting closer to the banishment and the magical sea adventures of the Movie Star, the Skipper, and the Sailor. I mean, Katara, Iroh, and Zuko._

_Read and review... :)_

* * *


	9. Suffering

**Where Loyalties Lie  
**_Chapter Nine_

" I'm leaving to fight in the war," a man said as he pulled on the string that held his provision pack together. " I'm leaving this tribe to you."

The young teenaged boy standing behind his father merely nodded in response. The hut that they shared was dark inside and barely warm, the fire in the center nearly at the end of its life, and no one bothering to give the fire the fuel needed to keep burning. Who was worrying about a small fire when these two men were about to lose the only thing they had – each other.

The Chief of the Southern Water Tribe swung the heavy seal skin pack over his shoulder and turned around to face his son. The boy – no, young man – looked at his father, trying to hold back the urge to cry; the urge to let out his emotions. No, that would have to wait. He was the leader now. He was the Chief.

Hakoda slowly walked towards his son and stood before him. He lifted his hand and placed it on his son's shoulder, squeezing it assuring him. Hakoda wanted to smile, but he knew that a smile was just a lie. A mask, covering up what was really happening. Smiles worked when you were a child, innocent, hidden from the cruelties of the war. Smiles are not for young men, people who knew about the horrors around them.

" Today she would have been thirteen." He said softly.

" … I know, Sokka." Hakoda replied softly. " The winter solstice."

" She never had the chance…" Sokka bit his lip. " If she was here now…"

" Katara would have been strong about this. She was like her mother." Hakoda took a deep breath and exhaled, trying to keep himself together. " Strong. Driven."

Hakoda removed his hand and walked past Sokka to the door of their hut. He turned around, allowing one more last look at his home. It was almost bare – the parkas of his wife and daughter, Katara's toys, long and gone. Resting within the depths of the water that they worshiped as a people. The animal furs, just enough for survival, was all that was really left. Whatever that reminded the two men of who they lost was discarded. It was too harsh of a reminder of a brutality they witnessed – only to come too late.

" I won't let you down," Sokka said, the fifteen-year-old boy looking at his father with such intensity. " I will not let what happened ten years ago happen again. I swear to it, father."

Hakoda looked at his son and nodded.

A half hour later, his father was gone along with the men of the village. All that was left was a village of women, children, and elders watching their only defense leaving to fight a war that wasn't guaranteeing any of them back home. And, yet, a young man was left alone – after losing his family to a tragedy years ago -- to protect and give a broken village hope.

" I'll protect you," Sokka told them as he gripped the spear in his hand. " I promise."

It didn't ease the worry in their hearts. Nor did it ease his.

Alone, in his hut, he cried.

--

Tea floated in the air from the opened end of a heated pot, split into two separate streams, and delicately landed into two fine china cups. The girl smiled as she picked up her cup of tea and took a sip. She closed her eyes and relaxed a bit, relishing in the smooth taste of the unsweetened white tea. Her partner took a sip and raised an eyebrow.

" I seemed to have trained you well!" Iroh said with excitement as he took another sip. " Perfect preparation of this tea!" The waterbender opened her eyes and grinned as she placed her cup on top of the fine cherry wood surface of the tea table that sat at.

" Well, after being in your care for these many years I should be able to make a fine cup of tea."

" Too bad my nephew hasn't picked up this craft."

Katara laughed, " He isn't the sharpest dagger in the chest, if you know what I mean."

" He does tend to rush into things without thinking much."

" As long as it involves blowing things up." Katara reached for her cup again and brought it to her lips, taking another sip. She made a slight face as the luke warm tea went down her throat. " Though, I still have yet to learn how to keep my tea warm." Iroh laughed at her comment.

" That, little Katara," He finished his tea and reached for the tea pot. " Is something that I'm afraid you cannot do." She pouted.

" I guess so."

Iroh gently placed the tea pot back on the table after pouring himself another serving of tea. Katara placed her cup down as well, looking at her hands. Long fingers were calloused from the rigorous training she had been through all these years. Her hands looked old compared the girls her age that had soft, delicate hands. Maybe if she never let them know she could bend then maybe she would have soft hands as well. If only.

" What are you thinking about, child?" Iroh asked as he nursed the cup in his hand, keeping his tea warm. Katara shook her head.

" Nothing really. Just going over how I can bend water, recite every historical battle in this Nation's history, and make a really good pot of jasmine tea."

" And all of that is good qualities to have!" Iroh laughed. " You're strong, smart, and good in the kitchen! The perfect woman!"

" Oh really?!" Katara laughed as well. " I guess you're right!"

Iroh took a sip from his tea. " Zuko is having his first war counsel meeting today." He said after a moment of silence between the two. Katara looked outside at the garden from the opening of their tearoom. The leaves had fallen from the majority of the trees in the garden making the usually lively scenery a lifeless one. It was also chilly, reminding the girl that it was winter in the Fire Nation. Katara brought her thick, maroon, outer robe closer to her body as a wind blew through the open room.

" He's of age now… isn't he?" She asked. Iroh nodded.

" Fifteen."

" He kept telling me about how excited he was a few days ago… I don't care much, though."

" As future Fire Lord…"

" … He must prepare himself for everything." Katara smirked. " I know, I know."

" See? How ever smart you are! And for a twelve year old at that!" Iroh winked at her and Katara rolled her eyes. " I must attend as well, so I'm afraid that I have to leave you alone for a while."

" Oh, I don't mind." Katara said as she shifted in her spot. " Just make sure he doesn't do anything stupid."

Iroh chuckled as he wrapped his robes tighter to fight off the chilly winter morning. " I'll make sure, my dear."

--

" If we attack from the left flank, it'll clearly give away our position to the battalion to the west."

Generals sat around a large map of the Earth Kingdom laid across the lacqured floors of the war chamber, adorned with pieces representing platoons and battalions of their soldiers and the enemies. Attentively, a young man listened and watched as men discussed war tactics on how to finally destroy the strong and mighty Earth Kingdom army. Iroh looked at his nephew, noticing his attentive behavior, and mentally smiled. He was serious about this – he would become a good leader.

" If I recall correctly," the slick voice of the Fire Lord interjected causing the room to instantly turn their attention to the man. The flames obscured majority of the leader from view, making the man more intimidating. " That battalion is one of their strongest, am I right?"

The middle aged General nodded, pointing his wand towards the group of green stones. He pointed to a group of red stones and pushed them towards the green stones.

" Then," he paused for a moment. " I suggest we use the forty-first division."

The group of generals broke out into murmurs among each other. Zuko looked at everyone, totally lost on what was going on. What was wrong with sending out that group? Was it the way that they were positioned? He took a closer look at the map and noticed how they were coming in at them directly then the other group that was coming at the from the left-flank. Zuko opened his mouth to say something –

" But the forty-first division is new recruits!" The oldest general at the council said before Zuko could even ask his question. Zuko blinked. What was that? Sending out new recruits?! " How do you expect those men to defeat an army of that magnitude?" The general who was standing smirked and looked at the fellow council member.

" I don't expect them to." The man said matter-of-fact. " They'll just be an distraction as we attack from behind and the left-flank." He shrugged. " What better bait than to use fresh meat?"

Zuko instantly stood up the moment that man made that comment. How could he say such a thing? Didn't these men fight for the honor of their country? Why would they even suggest throwing them to the dogs just so they could win? I didn't make any sense! It made no sense at all!

" How can you do that?" Zuko asked accusingly. The general raised an eyebrow. Iroh reached out for Zuko but dropped his hand the moment Zuko opened his mouth again. It was too late, he dug his own grave. " These men are fighting for our country! How can you simply betray them like this?!"

The council was silent. Zuko stood before a group of men staring at him as if he had gone insane. Some frowning at the fact that a young man had also spoken out of turn. There was one thing that was sacred at the war meetings and that was knowing what your place is. It was something Zuko was not aware of – or maybe he believed that since he was prince he was excluded.

The flames surrounding the Fire Lord erupted in a burst, causing the young man to jump slightly. He turned to face his father finally realizing what he had done. No one said a word, no one dare to. The Fire Lord was angry… at his own son.

" What you have done is pure disrespect to the General." Fire Lord Ozai said coolly causing the hairs on the back of Zuko's neck to stand. " You spoke out of line and disrespected him… and what do you believe should be done to rectify this?"

Zuko opened his mouth but closed it again. He didn't know what should be done or what to do. All he knew was that all eyes were on him and his father was angry at him. It did not help that he was staring at a wall of flames blazing as if it was out of control. Ozai frowned from behind his shield of flames. " Agni kai."

Zuko blinked and then looked at the general. " I'm not afraid."

The general looked at the boy and shook his head as he sat down. Clearly he did not understand the situation and what was going on.

" Tomorrow at Sunset."

The boy had sealed his fate and he didn't even realize it.

--

" Uncle!" Katara called out as Iroh nervously helped Katara put on her military uniform. It had not even been twenty four hours since the events that happened in the war council and yet it was like the palace was in a uproar. In a few minutes Iroh had to report to the Agni Kai arena to witness something that would disturb him for the rest of his life; and Katara had to come as well. " What's going on?! I haven't seen Zuko since the day before yesterday! What happened?"

Iroh let Katara go after making sure that everything was on correctly. He knelt down in front of her and sighed. " You know what an Agni Kai is, right?"

Katara nodded. Who didn't know what an Agni Kai was? Every person in the Fire Nation knew what it was. It was one of the major elements of being a Fire Bender. It wasn't a duel to the death but sometimes it could be considered worst than death. Katara blinked after fully realizing what Iroh had asked her.

" … What does this have to do with anything…"

" Zuko was challenged to an Agni Kai for disrespecting a General." Iroh said and Katara gasped, bringing a hand over her mouth. " We're going to watch him duel."

" B-but… What if he gets hurt?"

Iroh sighed, " Then he must live with it forever."

Katara followed Iroh as he lead her through the growing crowd of spectators gathering in the Agni Kai arena. There was a mixed feeling in the crowd, some excited while the majority of it was sympathy and dread. Today, these people were witnessing the fate of their Crown Prince. Who knows what could happen. Katara didn't want to know what was happening. For some reason, she just wanted to see him and try and get him away from this.

" Ah, it seems my brother is finally in for it for good." A girl said amusingly as Katara approached her. The page frowned at the Crown Princess of the Fire Nation.

" How can you be so lax about this?" Katara asked sharply as she stood next to the girl. Azula smirked as she looked at Katara.

" Because I _can_." Azula turned to her left. " Ah! Commander Zhao! How nice to see you."

Katara looked over Azula's shoulder and noticed the tall general make his way towards them. He had a content expression on his face, obviously not worried over the fact that the Crown Prince was about to suffer in an Agni Kai against a General he spoke out against. Not only that – a master firebender. The Commander looked at the two and smirked.

" Princess," He said bowing. " And the Page herself. Good Afternoon, Miss Katara."

Katara hesitantly nodded in acknowledgement. " Good Afternoon, Commander Zhao."

" It seems we're going to have ourselves quite a show." Zhao said amusingly as the crowd murmurs died down. Katara looked at Zhao, who was looking at the arena, with a confused expression. What was he going about?

" Why?" Katara asked. Zhao smirked, not once looking back at Katara, as Zuko entered the arena.

" Because… he is about to fight his father."

Katara gasped in horror, turning her attentions directly to arena, staring wide-eyed in shock. There, Zuko was standing in the arena taking off his cloak with probably no idea that he was about to face his father.

Zuko assumed a position, ready to fight his opponent. This was how he was going to prove himself to his father. He was not afraid of what some General thought of him. He was going to win this Agni Kai and let everyone know that he wasn't just some young child who didn't know his place in the court.

Slowly a figure approached him. He couldn't make out his figure at first, but then, everything came into light the moment the man he was about to fight stepped into the light. Zuko's arms fell to his side as he stared in shock. It wasn't the general, no, that man was sitting in the crowd around him.

No, this man wasn't anything like that general…

… It was his father.

" You will fight for your honor." Ozai's voice was sharp, commanding, and it brought his son to his knees in fear and shock. Zuko bowed his head, holding back the urge to cry, biting his lip, and feeling his heart race in his chest.

" I'm sorry father!" Zuko forced out, trying to hide back his fear. " I am your loyal son. I didn't mean to disrespect!"

Ozai frowned as he looked down at his own son. " You will stand and fight, Prince Zuko!"

Zuko slowly raised his head, tears now streaming down his face. Ozai couldn't believe this. His son had all this honor and fearlessness in the council room and now here he was – crying, begging on his knees, not to fight him. This was not a man; nor was this his son. Anything this weak could not be a holder of the royal crown.

" Then," Ozai said as he approached his son, a flame forming in his hand. " You will learn how to respect and suffering shall be your teacher."

Katara quickly turned away as Zuko's piercing scream could be heard as his father burned his face. No, she couldn't look. She couldn't watch. She didn't want to remember the scaring of her best friend. But, yet, she would always remember his scream. Even if she covered her ears, that scream would be something that would never leave her mind… and it would be something that would haunt her for a very long time.

* * *

_wawawawawawa wasure mono gaaaaa..._

_Oh, sorry. Niconico moment. Anyway, yay, new chapter. I think I'm glad I'm finally finished with the Fire Nation arc. Now time to put them on a boat._

_Oh, what's that? Ages again. Well, I was thinking. Why not keep Katara canon age? Iroh found her in the fall, she said she was three. Yet, her fourth birthday is in the winter. So, hay, look at that. She's actually a year older than what the Fire Nation thinks she is. sdkjg;salkdgjs;alkgdsgsadg ALSO, yes, I know. He was banished at 14. I bumped all the events in Avatar canon to take place a year after they happened in the show. I did this for a reason. You will know soon enough. :)  
_

_It works in my head. **Read and review!**_


	10. Fate

**Where Loyalties Lie  
**_Chapter Ten_

" I can _heal_ him! _Let me in_!" Katara shouted as the guards in front of his room held her by her arms, pulling her away from his door as she kicked and screamed; trying to break free and bolt towards the doors that kept him from her.

" It doesn't matter!" One guard yelled. " No one is allowed to see him! No one!"

" I don't care!" Katara struggled more, wiggling, not even caring how much her shoulders hurt or how loose her robes got. " You fat head idiot!!" She screamed, hoping he would hear it. " Why won't you let me in?! Why are you letting them keep me away!! _Am I not your friend_?!"

It had been one week since the agni kai. One week since the day that the Fire Nation's own king stood up among hundreds of generals and court officials and permanently scarred his own son. His _own_ son… all simply because he spoke his mind at a war council meeting. Was scolding him in front of the generals not enough? Did he had to publicly humiliate him at the same time?

Katara couldn't believe it. She was there – she watched the horrific event take place – and yet she couldn't come to terms to believe it had happened. No father would do that to his own son; no man would. Yet this man, this king, scarred his own son to _prove a point_. In all the years that she had been within these palace walls, raised as a Fire Nation citizen and a follower (and also believer) of their practices and beliefs, she never believed that anything this horrible could happen. Never.

Or maybe she couldn't accept the fact that her caretaker's own brother could be so cruel.

" Let go of… me!" Katara summoned the water from the nearest source she could find in the room and sent a concentrated stream of water to hit one of the guards in the face. The young guard released the girl, sputtering as he took off his helmet, wiping the water off of his face. Katara took the opportunity to kick the other guard in the shin, the taller man instantly losing balance and falling over on to the ground releasing the girl.

Katara ran towards the door and grabbed the handles. She pulled on them but the doors wouldn't bulge. It was locked. She sighed in frustration and banged on the large wooden doors. Harder, as hard as she could, she wanted him to hear her.

" Open up! Open up these doors!"

" Katara!"

She froze at the sound of Iroh's voice. It was sharp – something Katara knew that she was in trouble. She slowly turned around and saw the old General making his way towards her. He was frowning as he passed the incapacitated door guards, not once looking at them but only at her. Katara bit her lip and looked the other way, not being able to handle looking at his piercing stare.

" Do you think yelling and causing a ruckus is going to make him open those doors?!" Iroh yelled.

Katara opened her mouth, wanting to explain herself, but the words fail to escape. Ever since they carried his limp body from the arena, Katara felt as if she lost someone dear to her. That scream – she could still hear it in the back of her mind. The pain that he experienced; she knew what it felt like to be burned. That was truly suffering and she wanted to rectify it. Yet, no one allowed her too. Why was that wrong? She was his friend… she had to do this. She just couldn't abandon him!

Iroh took a step closer, closing the gap between them. Katara hesitantly looked up at her caretaker, tears threatening to fall down her face. She held her upper arm, gripping onto the thick sleeves of her red outer robe that kept her warm from the cool winter air. She felt alone; no one understood how much she was hurting because of this. He was never going to be the same again. Katara knew this.

" Katara," Iroh said softly. " Leave him alone."

Katara shook her head. " I can heal him… just let me do it…"

" You can't." It was short and to the point.

" Why?" Katara blinked the tears from her eyes. " Why can't I do it?! Why does everyone here keep me away! Why does everyone stay away from him? Why must he suffer?!"

" Because!" Katara froze at Iroh's sharp and commanding voice. She rarely heard him speak to her like this and it scared her. " It is _his_ punishment and in the rules of Agni Kai… he must suffer with that scar for the rest of his _life._ It is not something that can be changed."

" But—"

Behind her, Katara heard the latches of the door click against each other. She turned around, forgetting she was debating with Iroh and waited for the doors to open. Her heart raced with anticipation. She had not seen Zuko since it happened; she wanted to see him. To make sure he was okay, to make sure he wasn't suffering and, yet, she was afraid. Afraid to see what had become of him. Afraid that… maybe… she couldn't heal him.

Slowly, one of the doors opened. It seemed as if it was opening up to a black abyss as Katara looked and waited. Not an ounce of light was in that room – as almost it felt like something was sucking her in. The innocence she once had as a royal page, sucked into the harsh realities of event that changed the state of this palace. She saw his figure stepped out of the room, white loose robes appearing into view and suddenly himself. She bit her lip as she looked at him. The mess he had become.

Zuko looked at the girl standing in front of him. That tanned skin girl, dressed in the finest robes with the bluest eyes he'd ever seen in his life, who looked as if she had fought war all on herself. To the boy, it was like it was only him and her at that very moment. He didn't bother to look up and notice his Uncle standing behind her or the guards standing wearily behind them.

His white robes barely clung onto his body, the thin cotton fabric hanging slightly off of his small shoulders. Black hair hung in front of his eyes and around his face, tangled and frayed…. Obscuring the bandage that covered nearly half of his face and ear. He lost weight, Katara noticed, probably refusing to eat. She wanted to cry.

" … Don't come here." He said softly, barely a whisper. His voice was hoarse and dry. Lips dry and cracked. Katara blinked.

" W-what…?"

" Stay away and don't come here." It was stronger and Katara felt her heart skip a beat in her chest.

" … I can help you…" She strained to get out, but for some reason, it seemed difficult for her to speak. Her throat felt tight. " … I can heal your scar..!"

" Don't you get it?!" He grabbed her arm and pulled her towards him. They were mere inches from each other, both breathing hard as they tried to fight off the onslaught of pain and sadness over coming them. She looked up at him, seeing the swollen, red skin that escaped the bandage. He was suffering. " I don't want you here! I don't want you anywhere _near_ me!" He pushed her back and she stumbled backwards, nearly falling down.

" …. Z-zuko…"

" I don't ever want to hear you near here again." He walked back into his room and closed the door behind him.

Katara brought a hand to her face and wiped the tears away. She took a step backwards and then another before she bumped into Iroh. She turned around and looked at the man behind her and he merely placed a hand on her shoulder with assurance. Katara turned to face the doors again and glared. She wasn't going to let him walk away like that. He was the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation. No future leader backed down from anything.

" Fine! Be that way!" She yelled. " See if I care! See if the world cares about your tears! You jerk! Rot away in that room! No one cares _anyway_!"

On the other side, Zuko leaned against the door and slid down the large wooden door. He wanted to cry… but… tears wouldn't fall.

--

" It… feels as if… everything has slipped from my hands like sand."

" It's not the end."

" Then why does it feel like it?"

Katara stopped and looked at the young man sitting down in front of her. She didn't have an answer for him… and she knew anything she would tell him would merely be false hope. False hopes don't mean anything to a person already broken… much like how a broken toy is useless to a little boy. She dipped the blade in the bowl of water sitting on top of a table next to them, rinsing off the soap and hair. She brought the blade back to his scalp, resuming what she was doing.

" … Destiny is what you make of it, Zuko." She said, softly moving the blade against his skin, the hair falling down around her hand and down his head. " If you just sit here, then nothing will get done."

" That is why I must find the Avatar." He said sharply. " So my honor can be restored."

Katara stopped and looked at their reflection in the mirror before them. She noticed how much his scar had made such a contrast in his face. He was no longer the innocent boy. " Yes," She said as she resumed. " That is why…"

It had been one month since he gained his scar in an Agni Kai gone horribly wrong. Within that month, the boy who had everything lost it in less than a day. His status, his crown, and marred with a scar. The optimistic boy had become a pessimistic man, bent on restoring his honor and right on the throne. Katara felt as if she was losing him to the madness.

In a few hours he was boarding a ship to find the Avatar with a group of soldiers to command. It was beyond ridiculous and Katara knew it. The Avatar disappeared nearly one hundred years ago in a raid. Who knew if he lived or died during that raid – it was a hundred years ago and the chances of the Avatar being alive was next to none. Besides, how did they know what the Avatar looked like. No one had seen an Air Nomad and there were barely any existing pictures of them.

Katara placed the blade in the cold water after she finished. She reached for the red string that was lying on the table next to the water and gathered the hair on the top of his head together. She tied the red string around his top knot and then reached for the hair ornament, sliding it over and setting the red and gold trimmed hair piece in place.

" … I'm finished." She said softly. He got up and she removed her hands, resting them on the chair he once was sitting in before. He turned around and looked down at her. He never noticed it before but he was taller than her. It felt weird for some reason, now, that he was looking down at the girl that was once his sparring partner and best friend.

He always viewed her as an equal, and yet at that very moment that girl seemed so tiny to him. Small – like some girl among the many in the palace. Maybe the emotional strain the girl had went through this past month had taken a toll on her. Then again, it had taken a toll on everyone in the palace. Except for his sister…. She made it her duty to say her final words before he was finally banished by his father.

" Thank you." He said softly and she merely nodded.

" Iroh's going with you… " He nodded. " I'll be staying here."

And then he realized, she would not be there with him. She was his friend – she was what kept him sane that month that he was sure that he was going to go crazy. Zuko was going to be on a ship with strangers and his Uncle. It was like, in an instance, he was thrown out in to sea in a boat without a paddle. Katara provided Zuko the stability and friendship that he always found comfort in. For some reason, he knew that he would miss her substantially if she didn't come.

He hesitantly extended his hand towards her. Katara looked at him with a confused expression. What was he doing now?

" … Come with us…" He said awkwardly. Katara blinked.

" Are you inviting me?" She asked with hesitation. Zuko frowned and it seemed weird to the girl. One side of his face showed reaction while the other one was immobile.

" No." He said, short and commanding. She blinked at the sudden tone of voice. It was strange hearing this person that she known nearly all her life speak in that manner. " I'm ordering you to."

--

" … What in the hell does that crazy old man think he's doing?" Zhao spat as he observed the young waterbender board the black, steel, naval boat along side the old general. One of his subordinates, who were standing next to him, shrugged his shoulders. Behind the commander, his crew was setting up their vessel for another assignment to the Earth Kingdom.

" Is there something wrong, sir?" He asked looking at Zhao.

The middle aged commander huffed in annoyance as he continued to watch the scene. Right before his eyes, his key to glory was getting on a ship to go on a silly goose chase for a person that had been missing for over a hundred years. Everyone who had a brain knew that the Fire Lord was sending his disgraced son on a mission that wasn't guaranteeing the boy's return home. With that, his prized waterbender was joining them on that stupid adventure.

That girl was _his_. He found her first and he was the one that spared her life. Yet, that crazy tea drinking general took her from him and now Zhao wasn't certain when he would ever get his hands on her again.

" … Nothing." Zhao growled as he turned away from the scene. He couldn't deal watching it. " Ensign, I need you to get me a messenger hawk. I have a message that I must deliver to the Fire Lord himself."

The ensign nodded, " Yes, sir. Right away."

" I swear to it, I will not let you slip from my hands, girl…" Zhao swore to himself. Not as long as he was breathing – no one was going to stop him from getting what belonged to him. His destiny was through that girl. Zhao was not going to let anyone get in the way of destiny; not even a banished prince and his crazy uncle.

-

" Today, my nephew, begins a new chapter in your life." Iroh said as their ship began to set sail. Smoke blew from the funnel as the steam engines began to run. The wind blew, the sweet smell of the sea infiltrating their noses. The old man placed his hand on Zuko's shoulder as they looked off into the horizon and endless blue ocean.

" … All I want to do is return home." Zuko said sharply. " I will find the Avatar."

" And you will find him, Zuko." Iroh assured him despite the fact that even he knew it was a futile mission. Katara looked up at her childhood friend noticing the tension in his face. She placed her hand over his and squeezed his hand. He looked down at her.

" You will succeed. I know you will."

If only they believed.

* * *

_Slowly a relationship is developing. :) Now Zhao is basically gonna chase Zuko who is gonna chase the Avatar while Iroh makes a good pot of tea. Not to mention these two teenagers end up falling in love. :) With drama and angst. Thanks for the reviews, didn't expect to get so many!  
_


	11. Repair

**Where Loyalties Lie  
**_Chapter Eleven_

" Hey, girl! Give me a cup of water!"

Her eyebrow twitched and her hands tightened into fists, knuckles turning white as nails dug deep into the palm of her hands. It was the tenth time today that someone had 'ordered' her around, the nth time within the past month of them sailing since leaving the Fire Nation that she was mistaken as a servant girl.

With a smile, she turned to the solider standing in front of the door that lead into the cabins of the ship, " I am _not_ a servant."

The man, probably in his early thirties, blinked. So this kid actually believed that she wasn't a servant on a Fire Nation ship? Did she not look at herself in the mirror? His annoyed expression cracked, thin lips smirking and auburn eyes gleaming in amusement. He brought a hand over his mouth and choked out a laugh find what she said absolutely hilarious.

" You mean to tell me that you honestly believe you're not a servant?" He uncovered his mouth and pointed to the bucket of fresh water. " Know your place. Give me my cup of water."

Katara frowned at the solider. He was either thick headed or stupid, probably both. What did he not understand that she was a citizen of the Fire Nation and the Royal Page to Prince Iroh, once heir apparent to the throne? She looked at the bucket of water that lied next to the iron bulkhead of the observatory deck and then back at the frowning Fire Nation solider.

" Fine," She spat. The solider gave her a satisfying smirk as she stalked off to the bucket of water.

She approached the bucket and stared down at the water that slightly rocked against the metal walls of the bucket due to the movement of the ship they were on. Katara glanced over her shoulder at the smirking officer and then back at the bucket, lips curling into a smirk at the sudden idea that had crossed her mind. If he wanted water, she was going to _give_ him water.

" What's taking you so long?!" He called out, frustrated. Katara didn't reply. He walked to her and placed a hand on her small shoulder. " I said—"

His face met with a wave of dirty water from the bucket as Katara turned around. The soldier stumbled backwards, sputtering nonsense as he wiped his face of the water. Katara smirked smugly as she crossed her arms over her chest. " I maybe a page, but I'm _not_ a servant."

"Why you!"

He raised his hand back, preparing to slap the girl across her cheek, and she winced in preparation from the whiplash… That never came. She waited a moment before opening one eye slowly to look at the solider, wondering why he hesitated. Then, she opened her other eye and a gasp escaped her lips.

There stood Iroh behind the guard, holding the man's arm back by his wrist. The solider was wincing in pain as the old general kept his arm in his tight hold, a stern expression written all over his old features. He pulled his arm back and it elicited a painful groan from the younger man.

" She is not your servant, boy." Iroh said coolly as Katara watched. " She is no one's servant on this ship. I suggest you watch your tongue next time." The solider almost lost his footing and stumbled in his spot but it didn't phase the old general. " Understood?"

" Y-yes, S-sir." He had gritted between his clenched teeth.

Iroh's expression instantaneously changed from cold and stern to the warm jolly expression Katara was used to seeing. The Fire Nation solider cradled his right right in his left hand, the stinging pain pulsating through his entire arm. Katara slowly made her way to Iroh's side.

" Now that we've settled this little situation why don't we share a nice pot of fresh Jasmine tea, Little Katara?" Iroh sung, ruffling the young bender's hair.

" Sure!"

The two made their way to the upper deck of the ship, Iroh happily talking about the new box of teas he had purchased from their last stop over two days ago in an occupied Earth Kingdom town to resupply. The solider watching the two growled in frustration as he kicked the metal bulkhead to vent. It went on deaf ears.

---

She was kneeling at the small table in Iroh's quarters on the ship as the old general brewed them a pot of the newly purchased Jasmine tea. Katara sighed to herself as took an orange from the fruit bowl that was placed in the center of the table. She started spinning the round fruit around, twisting it with a flick of her wrists and watching it spin like a top.

This had been the result of her days onboard the ship after setting sail nearly a month ago. Wake up, be hassled by some grumpy soldiers, and drink tea with Uncle Iroh. And while she didn't have any real complaints about the situation, it had proved not to be as exciting as she originally anticipated it to be. Yes, she understood that the Fire Lord had basically sent them all on a wild goose chase, a futile hunt for a person who probably does not even exist, but she had expected something a lot more exiting about being on a ship than this.

Katara spun the orange again and thought about their situation. The attitudes, the change in personalities, and the frustration everyone was feeling at the moment. Then her thoughts took her back to her friendship with the one person who got them there in that situation. She was beginning to forget the last time that she ever shared any free time with Prince Zuko beyond the day they had set sail.

She couldn't figure out if he was avoiding her or was too busy swamping himself in the activities of commanding a ship to even talk to her, and while she didn't particularly go looking for him, it was starting to bother her that there was a wall growing taller between them after the agni kai that pretty much destroyed the boy that once was.

" If you think to hard you might hurt yourself. " Iroh joked as he placed a cup of tea in front of the teenager. She blinked out of her musings and slightly chuckled. Katara took the china into her hands as Iroh settled himself across from her.

" Sorry, Uncle." She said, bringing the white cup to her lips.

" I know things have been a bit hard," Iroh said, resting an arm on top of knee as he sat cross-legged. " But, you just have to learn how to readjust, conform to change and flow with the situations presented." He paused to take a sip from his tea. " Like water."

" It's not the situation we're in," Katara looked down at the cup in her hands. " It's a little bit more to it than that."

" Do you wish to tell me?"

She took a sip from her cup, " It's… not the fact that half the crew treat me as if I'm some slave girl or the fact that we're basically on a futile mission that is just masking over the fact that… he—we're banished."

" Then what is it?"

Katara looked at Iroh and sighed, finding it hard to actually say what was bothering her. She placed her cup back on the table and rested her hands on her lap. " … He doesn't speak to me anymore."

" Ah…" _It was that._

" We haven't sparred, we haven't spoken to each other, and we haven't done anything together like we had used to do back home. It's like he's just pushing me away and I feel as if one day the distance is going to be too far for us ever to return."

" He has a lot on his plate, Little Katara," Iroh said as he began stroking his beard in thought. " I don't think he means to isolate you. I don't think he's doing it purposely to you. I think he's pushing _everyone_ away."

" But I'm his best friend!" Katara covered her mouth in embarrassment, realizing how brash it sounded and Iroh merely chuckled. " … I just… I don't want to lose him… I value our friendship too much."

Iroh had taken another sip from his tea and realized he was finding it hard to actually enjoy the new batch of tea when his concerns were now on the rocky relationship of the two young individuals in his life. He knew that their friendship was slowly deteriorating as his nephew continued to push everyone away from him. He was either on the navigation deck or in his quarters, occasionally coming out to practice his bending before retiring to his quarters again.

Then there was Katara who basically gave up trying to reach out to him, focusing more on making the best of his situation by either getting to know the soldiers on board the ship, accompany Iroh whenever he needed her, or silently practicing her bending from everyone's view – which was rarely the opportunity.

Communication between the two seemed to have ceased to exist. Iroh didn't want to stress himself on it. He figured that with time the situation would ease back into what it once was. It was a tense time for everyone at the moment – He really didn't have any advise for his young page.

" I think… you should take it slowly." Iroh said. " Don't force things to chance. Take steps. He's angry, lost, and confused… Give him time."

" I just want to help."

" I think helping him by giving him his space would do him more good." Iroh gentle took the orange from the girl and began peeling it. " Friendship is like a flower. It begins like a small green bud but then it slowly opens itself to the world. Then, it becomes a beautiful blossom. Can you get me a tray, my dear."

Katara nodded and got up from her kneeling position at the table. She stretched her legs, working out the stiffness that had begun to settle in. Iroh continued to peel the orange and Katara got a silver tray from the dresser near them.

" Do you honestly think that he's going to come around?" The sound of her voice was laced with worry and concern. Iroh had merely chuckled as he split the fruit into two after peeling it, separating it piece by piece and placing it neatly on the tray.

" You know him as much as I do, my dear." Iroh said warmly. " What do you think?"

Katara paused, thinking of an answer, " This is deeper that everything else that has happened before."

Iroh pushed the tray towards her, " Then why don't you just pay him a visit and find out yourself."

" I thought you said to not force the issue with him…"

" I did say that, but," Iroh wiped his hands clean of the sticky orange juice on a white cloth that rested on the table. " You can go slowly and make small attempts."

Katara picked up the small tray of fresh oranges in her hands and slightly bowed before the old general.

" Thank you." She said softly and the old man merely chuckled in response.

" Go on."

She straightened her posture and nodded her head. Katara left Iroh's quarters quietly as she made her way to the Prince's quarters. Iroh leaned back, holding his weight on his arm, as he got more comfortable on the cushion he was seated on. Their relationship will mend itself, he thought to himself heating the cold tea in his cup, and it will be stronger than ever.

--

It seemed as if her legs were getting heavier and heavier as she approached his quarters. The corridors of the ship were just getting darker and redder and she had to note that had only been down this way either once or twice since arriving on board. She always forgot how dark it really was as you neared Prince Zuko's quarters.

What seemed like an eternity for the girl was only a few minutes as she reached the iron doors that separated the Prince from the rest of the world. Katara held her breath, trying to calm her shaken nerves and racing heart. She exhaled and closed her eyes. It was Zuko, her childhood friend; there wasn't anything that she had to be afraid for. Yet, why was she finding it hard to knock on his door? Katara bit her lower lip and lifted her right hand from the tray she was holding.

A pause. A breath. Exhale.

Then she knocked. She could hear her heart beating loudly in her ears as she waited for a reply on the other side, but there was nothing. Again, she knocked and like last time there was no response.

" What is his problem…" Katara mumbled to herself as she studied the iron door, her nerves calming over with annoyance. She knocked on the iron door harder this time. Nothing. " Hey! Open up, idiot!"

She swore she heard something moving on the other side of the door but whatever it was didn't open the door. Now tired of being ignored, she began to kick the door.

" I told you to open up, you selfish pig! Now open up! I know you're in there! There's not that many places you can mope at on this hunk of junk!" She yelled as she kicked his door.

There was a sound of the locks on the door unlocking and Katara stopped kicking the door. She took a step backwards and for some reason that feeling of dread crept up her system again. Licking her lips she waited as the door to his chambers slowly opened, the cool orange glow of candles on the other side gradually bathing the dark corridor in light from which she stood in.

Zuko looked at Katara, frowning in utter annoyance. He was in the middle of meditating and this stupid girl had to interrupt him with nothing of importance. Why was she holding a tray of oranges anyway? He didn't ask for any food service and he probably assumed the girl offered to bring it to him to get down here to bother him. He groaned.

" What is it." It was more of a statement than a question. Katara blinked and opened her mouth. Words failed to escape from her lips and she closed her mouth, instead presenting the tray in her hands at the scarred prince. Zuko closed his eyes and sighed in frustration. " I don't want anything. "

Zuko began to close the door separating them but Katara wedged her foot in-between the door, blocking him from closing it. He looked at her in mild shock and Katara stepped forward.

" I'm not letting you close me out like you did the rest of the world." She said firmly, pushing herself further into his room and causing him to step backwards.

" I don't want to talk to you right now." He tried to sound uncaring, but the faltering sound in his voice was giving him away. Without realizing it, Katara was in his quarters and Zuko was standing to the side with his hand still on the door.

The water bender made her way towards the low end table and placed the tray of oranges down before settling in front of it herself. Zuko sighed again and closed the door. Katara had grabbed an orange and plopped it into her mouth. He soundlessly sat across from her and rested his hands on top of the knees of his crossed legs.

" Come on," she said. " Have one."

" I'm not hungry."

" I said eat." She pushed the tray towards him and he reluctantly took a orange and put it his mouth, chewing slowly, and finally swallowing it.

" … It's good." He paused. " Sweet."

" Uncle knows how to find the perfect fruits." Katara said softly, noticing how Zuko wasn't looking at her but rather down at the cold iron floor. " I didn't go shopping with him though. I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to practice my bending while the ship was empty."

" Everyone here knows you're a water bender."

" But it makes me uneasy to practice in front of them with it." She looked down at her hands and grasped the rough cotton of her pants into her hands. Her heart was slightly racing and she didn't know why. " I miss the days when we would practice together."

" Those days are in the past." He didn't miss a beat.

" No they're not…" She looked at him and blue eyes met gold. " You're pushing them away."

" I have more important things to worry about then play with you. We're not children."

" I'm your _friend_, Zuko. We may have lost so much in the Fire Nation, but, _Agni_, please don't make me lose the one thing I truly treasure on this ship."

Zuko's good eye blinked while his scarred side barely twitched. She hated seeing him like this, mauled like this, and sometimes she kicked herself for not being more aggressive. Maybe, then, she could have helped him heal that burn wound before it destroyed his beau… Katara mentally blinked. What was she thinking? She quickly picked an orange and plopped it into her mouth.

" … You're asking too much from me."

" All," she swallowed the orange. " All I'm asking from you is to be my friend again." She shifted in her kneeling position. " … I want to be able to talk to you without feeling pushed away."

Zuko didn't say anything and she sighed in defeat. Iroh was right; this was going to take some time to repair the damage and strain between their friendship. Katara looked at his scalp, noticing his hair growing back and reached over the table, running her hand against the fine nibs of the hair growing. Zuko stiffened in his spot.

" We should get this shaved." She said as she pulled her hand away allowing the teenager to relax in his seat again. " Where's your things?"

" Over… there." He said softly, pointing behind the water bender.

Yeah, things are going to take a while, Katara thought as she got up to retrieve the shaving materials, but at least they were making small steps to get back to where they once were… and that in itself eased the young woman's heart.

* * *

_I had a major writer's block for this story that latest two years, but, now I'm back. My Avatar Muse returned :)_ _Thank you all for your kind reviews in my selfish absence._


	12. Music

**Where Loyalties Lie**_  
Chapter Twelve_

They had been sailing for nearly a year now on a senseless quest to find a person who had gone missing nearly a hundred years ago. The crew's moral of the sailing shipping had begun to slowly diminish, many becoming aggravated that they were selected to join in on a wild goose chase with a banished prince. If it weren't for General Iroh's positive attitude, the young man probably would have already lost control of his crew before the third month at sea.

The general had decided to designate certain nights on board the ship as festive nights where the soldiers could let loose, relieve their tensions, and have fun under the stars and full moon. The banished prince was vocally against it but it landed on deaf ears. The page merely laughed and went along with the general's idea.

They were docked at a port of call along the Earth Kingdom's Western shores to resupply, giving the old legend a time to find various instruments for the crew to play on music night. Katara had decided to join Iroh on his shopping adventure while Zuko protested the idea by shooting a fireball over their heads. The port was lined with merchants selling everything from fruits and vegetables to weapons. What you needed for an adventure out on the sea was there, except, for a pretty high cost.

" I'm sure I can find a Sungi Horn somewhere here." Iroh said as he window shopped the various merchant stands and displays. Katara fanned her, the summer heat was starting to reel its nasty head, and the heavy Fire Nation military uniform she was wearing wasn't helping with relieving her of the heat.

" Why do we need a Sungi Horn?" Katara asked. " Isn't it a bit big for the ship?"

Iroh laughed, " I don't know if you know this, Little Katara, but Zuko is actually a pretty decent Sungi Horn player." Katara looked up at Iroh and blinked.

" No, I didn't know that." She laughed lightly. " Back in the Fire Nation he always tried to act tough; he never actually showed me his… _artistic_ side."

" Zuko is definitely someone who doesn't like to show people his soft side."

" That is something I definitely know." She laughed.

The two rounded a corner in the port market and made their way down another street looking at the various things people were selling. Shop owners were yelling out their various sales and deals, while some haggled prices with buyers, and others simply were doing the same thing as the page and the general. The strong smell of Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation cuisine filled the air and it sort of made the young girl hungry.

" Ah, is that a tea shop I see?" Iroh said as he noticed a small stand at the end of the alley, towards the docks. " Hmm, why don't we take a break for some tea? We can take a nice needed rest."

" A rest from what?"

" A rest from shopping, of course!" The two laughed while the two servants behind them holding everything Iroh bought groaned.

" You can bring that to the ship." Iroh said as he looked over his shoulder. " I think I'm done for today."

The servants nodded and walked ahead of the two towards the ship. Iroh and Katara reached the tea shop and stepped inside. They took notice of the various boxes of tea that were stacked along the walls of the shop and the people sitting around make shift tables enjoying cups of hot tea. Even if it was a warm spring day, people will have a nice hot cup of tea. Iroh was notoriously one of them.

" Two Jasmine teas please." Iroh said to the tea shop owner. The man nodded.

" Two silver pieces." Iroh reached into his sleeve and pulled out his money pouch and gave the teashop owner a gold piece before sitting down at one of the make shift tables. Katara began fanning herself, finding it hotter inside than outside.

" You're thirteen years old…" Iroh mused as he ran a hand down his beard. Katara chuckled and rested an arm on top of the table.

" What's this all of a sudden?"

" Nothing, really, just going over how fast time has went by." Iroh smiled and held his hand out around his hip. " When I first saw you, this was about how tall you were and now," He raised his hand above his head. " You're this tall. It's hard to believe."

" We've all grown up, haven't we?"

" You all have. Especially Zuko, he's just shot up like a tree." He laughed. " An angry tree, but a tree none the less."

" That reminds me that in two years I'll be fifteen." Katara crossed her legs and rested her head on the heel of her palm.

" Coming of age…"

" It's scary."

" How so?" One of the servers at the shop brought them their tea and the two Fire Nation soldiers nodded in appreciation. " It's a festive celebration! You get gifts, a party, and all sorts of neat things!"

" …. It scares me because I'll be an adult then. It'll be the end of my childhood."

" What? You think that once you turn fifteen we're going to feed you to the cat-sharks?"

Katara laughed and shook her head, " It looks like the world's burden gets put on your shoulders…" Iroh took a sip from his tea and smiled.

" We all become adults, one way or another, my little one. It's how you handle the challenges presented to you that determines if it's a burden or a blessing." Iroh finished his tea and noticed how the water bender had not even touched her tea. He pointed to the small ceramic cup. " You didn't touch your tea!"

" You can have it if you like, Uncle."

" Oh, really?! You're too kind!"

He downed the tea in one gulp with a grin. All Katara could do was chuckle at Iroh's silly antics when it came to good cups of tea. The two of them stood up and Katara brushed the wrinkles out of her pants. The two walked out of the tea shop and Iroh stretched, working the kinks out of his shoulder. Katara shifted the armor of her uniform so that it'd be more comfortable in the heat.

" Do you still want to find that Sungi Horn, Uncle?" Katara asked. Iroh shook his head and yawned.

" No, I think we already have one on board anyway." He said tiredly. " I think its time for a nap."

" It's always time for a nap with you, Uncle."

" I'm old, I have to rest my weary bones." He winked at her and she simply rolled her eyes.

" You're far from old." The two of them started heading back to their ship. " I'm starting to believe what Zuko says about you…"

All Iroh did was laugh.

---

Iroh had excused himself to his quarters the moment they arrived on board and Katara finally used it as an opportunity to get out of her uniform now that they were on board. The ship was already shipping out the moment they got on board, and she mentally noted how impatient the Prince happened to be when things didn't go according to schedule (or if there was one).

After taking a long, cold, bath she quickly put on black, loose fitting, pants and a maroon robe, fastening it with a black sash. She tied her hair up in a simple chignon and headed off to the navigation deck.

When she arrived, she saw a group of soldiers involved deeply in a game of pai sho and chuckled. Ever since Uncle had bought that pai sho table and beating everyone at the game, everyone was trying to improve themselves to try and win one over the Dragon of West. So far, that hasn't happened yet. Katara walked over to the windows of the deck and looked outside onto the outer deck.

" How long has he been out there doing this?" She asked the man next to her. The middle aged man shrugged his shoulders.

" I'd say an hour since we've left port. But it seems as if he's using those guys as punching bags then actual sparring partners." Katara sighed.

" I noticed, Lieutenant Jee."

" I wish he'd treat us with a little bit more respect than tools for his goal." Jee ran a hand through his grey hair and rested his hands along the rails of the deck. Katara continued look on and watch Zuko's practice session.

" He doesn't do this for practice. He does it to let out his aggression. " Katara turned around and frowned. " I'll teach him a lesson."

Jee turned around but the girl was already gone. The middle-aged lieutenant turned around and looked back at the navigation deck to find out what lesson this young girl was going to teach the Prince. The ones playing pai sho quickly joined Jee's side to watch as well.

" Wanna bet on who wins?" One of the men asked as he got his bag of money.

Katara stepped on to the outer deck of the ship and stood nice distance between herself and the firebending Prince. She crossed her arms as she watched Zuko blast his men into oblivion rather than spar with the weaker firebenders. She then yawned and looked at her nails.

" Are you done beating up on guys weaker than you?" Katara asked loud as she held her hand out in front of, looking at the calluses on her fingers from the years of waterbending. Zuko growled and stopped his attacks. He turned around to face the young teenager and glared.

" I'm practicing my firebending. I don't need you here to antagonize me as I do it." He said coolly. Katara looked at Zuko and crossed her arms again.

" Then practice without using the useless guards." One of them yelled in defense, but it went on deaf ears. " Or spar with someone on an equal level as you. " She finished.

Zuko blinked for a moment and then scoffed, " You must be joking."

The water bender doesn't react to what he says and approaches him at the center of the deck. She assumes a waterbending stance and Zuko slightly frowns at the girl's sudden aggressiveness. He raises his hand in the air and waves away the soldiers who scurry away, some stumbling on top of each other. He assumes a firebending stance and Katara smirks.

" We haven't done this in a while, haven't we?"

Zuko smirks as well, " No, we haven't."

" Well, won't this be fun."

Zuko made the first move and shot a blast of fire at Katara and she instantly moved out the way, twisting her body to the left. She ran around him, summoning the ocean water towards her to form a water whip, all the while avoiding the fire blasts he was shooting at her. She ducked from one of the blasts; the water summoned, and began to run towards Zuko.

" You're too aggressive." She said as she flipped over him, bending the water whip around one of his arms. She landed on her feet and pulled the whip towards her, pulling him backwards.

" You're too cocky." Zuko pulled his arm out of the bent water and charged her, shooting fire at her. She moved backwards, blocking each blast with her water. Katara knew that close combat was difficult as a waterbender against a firebender and she also knew that Zuko was aware this fact from their previous sparing matches back at the Fire Nation.

He was purposely trying to corner her and make her lose her focus on her bending and source. While firebenders had the ability to pull from within, waterbenders relied on the available source of water around them. Katara didn't know if she wanted to call this good strategic thinking or playing dirty.

Katara jumped out of Zuko's path and flipped forward, landing on top of the one catapult of the ship. She stood there and looked down at Zuko who stood there with that smirk on his face. She frowned, this is the first time he's ever put her at a disadvantage in a spar.

" You're getting rusty!" He yelled at her mockingly and Katara's eyebrow twitched. " Since you rather spend your time drinking tea and making friends with the crew instead of practicing your bending!"

If Li and Lo were here, Katara knew they would rip her a new one just for her sloppy performance. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, calming her nerves. She was trained by one of the best bending instructors in the Fire Nation; an angry prince would be something easy to take down.

" At least I don't have a crew of people who want to throw me overboard."

" What was that?!"

Katara jumped off of the catapult and landed on her feet. She bended the water she had left into icicles and shot them at Zuko one by one. He managed to dodge and melt a few of them, but one managed to graze his arm and cut the sleeve to his shirt. He winced and then ran towards the waterbender who was running along the edge of the ship to bend more water towards her.

Katara dropped to the ground as he approached her and kicked out her leg, knocking him over and onto his back. She quickly got up and jumped on top of him, straddling his hips, and grabbed his wrists. She pushed his arms over his head and down on to the metal deck, bending the water towards his wrists and freezing them there in a thick layer of ice cuffs.

Zuko struggled against them and she smirked, " Like I said, you're too aggressive so you rush into things and leave yourself open."

" Likewise." He gritted against clenched teeth. Katara crossed her arms over her chest.

" So, do you yield?"

" Do I yield?"

" Do you," She leaned down, so that their faces were mere inches apart. Zuko's heart began to race. They never were this close before, not even when they were in the Fire Nation. The feeling within him was strange, he could feel his heart racing but he could also feel this lightness in his stomach.

Was he attracted to her? Oh, Agni, that couldn't be true. She was his best friend; he couldn't imagine being attracted to her! He tried to look at anything other than the girl above him but he couldn't. She was there, filling his senses. He could feel how light she was against him and he finally realized how small she was. He always viewed her like an equal he never really took into consideration that she was now becoming a woman.

" … Or are you just going to throw a tantrum like the baby you are?" She whispered.

Wait, baby? _Baby?!_ He melted the ice bindings she put him in and pushed Katara off of him. She landed on her side and winced as Zuko quickly stood up, pointing at her. She sat up and rubbed her side as she looked up at him.

" I'm not a baby!" He yelled. " I don't throw tantrums!" Katara didn't look bothered at all, more so annoyed.

" What do you call that now?" She got up.

" I'm yelling at you, that's what!"

Katara slapped his hand out of the way, " You maybe sixteen but you act like a little boy."

" I'm not a little boy."

" Could have fooled me." She yawned. " This is boring. I'm going to go inside and take a nap."

Katara began to walk away but Zuko grabbed her arm and pulled her around to face him. She blinked, caught off guard and looked up at him. This was the first time she really took into consideration their height difference. Iroh was right; Zuko really did grow into a tall person. Like a tree, except angry all the time.

" We're not finished." He whispered and it, for some reason she couldn't explain, sent shivers down her spine. Zuko noticed and smirked.

" … Well… I don't feel like sparing anymore." She spat, trying to cover up the fact that her heart was racing in her chest. Katara suddenly didn't feel so comfortable around him anymore. The feeling she felt was foreign, as if she was almost attracted to him. It scared her and wanted to blame it on the adrenaline from the fight. Zuko let her go and she quickly took a step backwards.

Katara looked like a complete mess. Her robe was slightly falling off of her shoulder and her chignon was loose, threatening to fall out of the pins she used to keep it up. The sleeves of the robe were singed with burn marks from close calls. But she didn't care; she was a soldier – appearance was the last thing on her mind. Though, Li and Lo probably would have reprimanded her for her sloppy performance. Zuko wasn't too well off either, with the right sleeve to his robe barely hanging on by a thread. He was slightly bleeding too.

" We'll finish this, because I'm not yielding."

" Fine," She fixed her robe. " We'll finish this another time."

" Ah, you two! What are you getting each other into now!" Iroh voice broke the two out of their current staring contest. Katara turned around and laughed nervously while Zuko rolled his eyes and sighed. " You know, you two have certainly drawn a crowd to yourselves…" Iroh said as he nodded his head towards the navigation deck.

The two young benders looked up and noticed that the entire crew was staring down at them with full attention. A blush crept up Katara cheeks and she quickly turned around, trying to cover herself up even more with her robe. Zuko growled in frustration.

" _Get back to work_!" He yelled. Everyone scurried away like headless chicken while Iroh laughed in amusement.

" You two are excellent benders. " Iroh complimented. " Though, Zuko, you need more practice in controlling yourself… and Katara, you've gotten sloppy."

" Yes, Uncle." Katara said softly with a sigh. " I need to practice more. I've gotten complacent."

" Well, don't do it tonight. Remember, it's music night!" He grinned, crossing his arms inside the sleeves of his robes. " I'll be expecting you two down here tonight! It'll be a great way to relieve some tension and know everyone."

" I'm not spending my time goofing off with instruments." Zuko said and pushed his way through the two. " I have more important things to worry about."

Iroh sighed and Katara placed her hand on his shoulder, " Don't worry, Uncle. I'll be there."

---

The night was cool and the skies were clear, leaving a showcase of the stars to simply twinkle above. The water rocked gently against the hull of the iron war ship and occasionally a cool breeze would blow across. It wasn't a big party. It was peaceful and gentle, certain crewmembers playing instruments while others sang songs of their provinces and their homeland. Katara sat in-between Jee and Iroh around the makeshift campfire they made and simply felt more at ease. There was no tension, just tranquility.

Some of the men told stories of their families, about funny situations or sad situations. Some told old folklores and new stories that they never heard before. It truly was a bounding moment for the crew to finally get to know each other. Except for one person who wasn't there; but no one was expecting him to show up.

The young waterbender had learned more about her crewmembers that night than she he had in an entire year sailing with them. She began to understand a lot of their frustrations. Some weren't there for the birth of their children or the graduation of others. Some of their wives became ill while some family members had passed away. Yet, with all their burdens, they still continued to push on with the banished prince. Not because they wanted to, but because it was their loyal obligation to the nation.

Several of the instrument-playing soldiers picked up their instruments and began tuning them again to prepare for another song.

" Hey, why don't you sing a song?" Jee suggested. Katara blinked, out of her trance like state around the fire and laughed nervously holding her hands up and shaking her head.

" No, no, I can't…"

" I'm sure you have a song or two being the General's page and all." Jee smiled. " Besides, everyone else here has contributed."

" Yeah, I think it'd be a good idea." Iroh added with a grin. Katara sighed in defeat and stood up.

" Alright, I'll sing a song." She ran her hands down her red robe. " Just one though." The men cheered and clapped as Katara cleared her throat. She never thought of herself to be a singer and usually tried to avoid it when Iroh would try and get her to sing. It was just embarrassing to do.

" So what will it be?" Jee asked as he picked up his Pipa.

" This is an old song General Iroh taught me when I was little," She said softly. " The Dragon and the Princess "

It was a simple old Fire Nation song about a Princess whose love tamed a wild Dragon and soon that Dragon fell in love with the Princess and became a human to be with her. The song was a cheesy love song that nearly every sucker for a romantic song loved and one that was hummed to many children when they were little. It was a happy, yet, sad song… much like the other Fire Nation songs.

Above in the navigation deck, Zuko looked down at the music night his crew was engaging in. He didn't want to participate because he had to keep his mind focused; things like this just threw you off track and make you loose focus of the purpose at the end of the journey. He just couldn't afford to lose focus, not when his birthright and honor was on the line.

The Prince leaned against the railing and crossed his arms; he didn't have to participate but it didn't hurt listening to whatever nonsense they were doing either. Zuko saw Katara reluctantly get up and for some reason he found himself suddenly more interested in what was going on than he expected. He turned around and watched as the band prepared for the song she was about to sing. The group gave her a one bar lead in and then Katara begun singing.

It was so gentle. So soft… it was almost as reminiscent as his the songs his mother would hum to him as a child. He closed his eyes and allowed her gentle voice to take over his senses. He was feeling calmer, more at peace with himself, and he liked that feeling. That tense feeling he usually felt slowly melted away as he relaxed to the sweet voice of the waterbender. He closed his eyes and continued to listen to the sad love song. Soon after, the round of applause took the Prince out of his calm state and he sighed.

Zuko left the navigation deck and retired to his quarters. He took off his light open vest and flung it somewhere in the room. He slid into covers of his bed. And looked up at the black iron ceiling, the sounds of her voice still haunting his thoughts and slowly drifted off into a sleep. That night would be the first in many that he was able to finally sleep without the worries of a honor being restored because, instead of dreaming of a faceless Avatar, he dreamt of being in a garden with a waterbender next to him feeding turtle ducks.

There's no pain or anger. There are no scars. There are no military uniforms, black ships, or foreign lands. There's no smell of burning coal mixed with the sea. There's simply laughter and smiles. Soft red silks, gentle cool air, beautiful flower petals falling softly to the ground, and sweet smells of blossoming flowers.

Simply times that would never become a reality, just only to exist in dreams.

* * *

_Wow, another chapter. I realized I have to go back and edit a few chapters because I have some inconsistencies in the story, not major but they're there. As for the fated meeting between Katara and Sokka, that will be happening real soon :) I realized that I haven't had Katara and Zuko spar in a while, so I decided to bring that back and get them 'close' to trigger those emotions. Sorry for the terrible action scenes, I'm not much of an action writer. Thanks for your reviews._


	13. Realization

**Where Loyalties Lie  
**_Chapter Thirteen _

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. This is purely fan created.

* * *

" There've been these reports from people in region stating that they've seen the Avatar." Lieutenant Jee reported as he stood next to Prince Zuko on the navigation deck. The young prince glanced at Jee from the corner of his eyes and crossed his arms.

" Are you sure it's the Avatar?" Zuko asked coolly. Jee shook his head.

" No, there are no confirmations that the person is indeed the Avatar. Simply that the man has been performing a few miracles in the region."

" For the past two years we've been following _reports_ like these and they always end up leading to dead _ends_." Zuko strained as he tried to hold back his frustration. It wasn't something that he could easily do as everyone on board that small warship knew that the Prince wasn't someone who could mask his anger.

It was true, though. For the past two years, almost two and a half, since his banishment from the Fire Nation, their mission to find the Avatar had only landed them in undesirable situations do to unsuccessful leads. Miracle men ended up being frauds, airbenders ended up being earthbending illusionist, and hundred-year-old men barely could walk. If the Avatar existed, he was either really skilled at avoiding the Fire Nation or possibly dead. A dead Avatar was the last thing Prince Zuko wanted to hear.

Behind the two soldiers were Iroh and Katara enjoying a game of _Pai Sho_. The young waterbender was finally deciding to show interest in the game within the last few weeks and Iroh was more than ever excited to show the girl how the game was played. The game had looked easy as you watched but playing it was a whole other ballgame. The usual _Pai Sho_ addicts on board had gathered to watch on the instructional lesson Iroh was giving.

" Pai Sho is all about strategy, Little Katara," Iroh said as he slid one of his tile pieces to an open square on the large board. " You want to think about your opponent's next move, but you also want to worry about your defense."

" Oh…" Katara moved one of her tiles and Iroh moved his in the next move. He then took the title and added it to his pot and Katara sighed in frustration.

" See?"

" Yeah, I get it." She moved one of her tiles and managed to capture one of his. She grinned and took the piece, adding it to her pot. Some of the men watching the game _ooo'd_ in amazement. It was her first capture in the game so far.

" There. Now you're starting to understand. "

" What I understand is that I have a crew of lazy bums who don't understand that we have things to do other than play silly board games." Zuko's sharp tone of voice disrupted the group from their attention on the game. The onlookers scurried off while Iroh and Katara continued on with their game, not phased by the Prince's threatening tone. Iroh placed a hand under his chin in thought as he observed the board, thinking of his next move.

" It seems like you get angrier and angrier with each passing day, my _Prince_." Katara said sarcastically as she crossed her arms, the sleeves of the thin red summer robe covering her toned, but slender, arms.

" And you seem to get _mouthier_ with each passing day, _Page_."

" It's nice that you've noticed." Katara looked up at Zuko who was glaring at her. She didn't look the slightest imitated. " If you excuse us, we're in the middle of a game."

Iroh raised an eyebrow at the snippiness of the argument the two were having with one another. The old man had noticed that the two were becoming more sarcastic with each other over the last few months; one always trying to bait the other into an argument or a minor hands on altercation (which, he had to note, always ended up with something needing to get repaired). It was amusing to watch and other times more of a headache for the old man when he had to act like the mediator between them.

The few people on the navigation deck began to preoccupy themselves with things that didn't involve listening to the soon-to-be argument between the childhood friends. They were becoming so frequent that instead of being funny it was just flat out annoying, though they wouldn't dare say it to the Prince themselves. Jee had closed his eyes and sighed.

" I think my uncle has been giving you too much freedom." Zuko said a he gave a quick glance at Iroh. " I think I should start placing some restrictions on you."

Katara returned her attentions to the _pai sho_ board and started analyzing the board, figuring out her next move. Iroh looked at his nephew to see the boy's reaction to the waterbender's blatant display of no concern about the threat he gave her. Though it was true that Zuko could restrict her on board, the threat was like a bark with no bite. Whenever the two argued, that threat always managed to come up. Katara had grown indifferent to it and Zuko had grown tired of her lack of concern.

" Prince Zuko, it doesn't hurt to sit down and forget the worries in life." Iroh had said reassuringly.

It went on deaf ears; the boy wouldn't stop looking at the girl in front of him. Katara could feel his eyes on her back and she shifted in her chair. She crossed her legs, pushing the ends of the red robe free and letting it drape over the stool she sat on. Katara licked her lips and let her right armrest on top of her knee as her left hand hovered between two of her tiles, trying to decide which one would be the right move to make.

" I'm not talking to you, Uncle." Zuko barked. Katara pushed a tile across and gripped her pant legs in frustration as Iroh made a quick move and took her tile.

" For Agni's sake! Can you at least let up on me for _one_ day!" Katara spat as she turned around in her stool to face the Prince. She was very annoyed just by her expression alone. Her blue eyes were as cold as ice and the Prince knew he had finally struck a nerve.

" Why should I? It's not like you're doing your job _anyway_. You're more like a waste of space than any help here!" Katara eyes widened in shock and she stood up, the game long forgotten. Some of the crewmembers on the deck began humming tunes to themselves in futile attempts to block them out.

" Waste of space?" She took a step forward. " Waste of space?! And _what_ do you do around here, oh useful one?!"

" I do a lot!"

" Like what?"

" I'm searching for the Avatar and I have a ship to command!" Zuko crossed his arms, glaring at the waterbender. " A lot more than what you do!"

Katara laughed and poked Zuko's chest, " I make sure that each crew member on board has had their meals, I help clean the decks, and I make sure that everyone is taken care of. If one of them is sick, I make sure to see that they get better. If someone needs some extra hands to help them with something, I offer my time to do so." Katara poked Zuko with each example to emphasize each point she made. " I do my part on this ship, you don't realize it because you're too busy moping around in that room of yours to even care!" She removed her hand and clenched her fists. " I even make sure to take care of you and your needs!"

Zuko opened his mouth but nothing would come out. Instead he clenched his fists and said the first thing that came to his mind, " You're supposed to do that!"

" I'm… supposed to?" Katara felt her heart drop and Iroh had brought his face to his palms and shook his head. His nephew seriously did not think before he spoke.

That was the last straw for the waterbender. She looked away, not wanting to look at the person in front of her, and bit her lip. Those words had hurt her more than she had expected. Is that how he viewed her? Just a page? Just someone who was supposed to be the beck-and-call lady of the ship? It was a shock for her, as if someone had taken her feelings and crushed them onto the floor mockingly.

Zuko looked at Katara and began to regret what he said. He honestly didn't mean to say that and he certainly didn't think less of her. Katara was his childhood friend, his _best_ friend, someone who he's confided in for almost his entire life. He truly cared for the girl, more so than what he leads on, and didn't mean to hurt her feelings. Things were getting tense between them, but not to the point where they were hurting each other.

He reached out to Katara and she turned around, slapping him in the face. The deck had gone deathly quiet, save for the breathing of those present and the muffled sounds of the ship's engines. No one had ever lashed on the prince like that and everyone was afraid of what he was going to do. Zuko didn't bother to cradle his right cheek; he knew he deserved it. Teary blue eyes glared at the young man and he just stood there waiting for whatever was going to be unleashed upon him.

" You can worry about your little Avatar mission on your _own_." Katara spat and it cut through Zuko like knives. " Don't you _dare_ talk to me again."

" Katara, I…" He sighed in defeat. " Never mind. Go. "

The page didn't need his order as she had already started leaving the navigation deck. She didn't shed a tear or make a single sound as she left, the red robe floating behind her with each stride she made. When she was gone, some let go of the breath they were holding while others clicked their tongues in disapproval. Zuko glared at them and everyone changed up again. Iroh shifted on his stool and crossed his arms as he observed the _pai sho _board.

" I don't want to listen to what you have to say, Uncle." Zuko said coldly as he joined Jee's side again.

" I wasn't going to say anything." Iroh replied with little sarcasm. " Though, a young woman's heart is delicate like a flower." Zuko temper flared and some of the lit lanterns on the deck blew out.

Katara entered her quarters and closed the door behind her slowly. She slowly made her way to the bed and sat down on the soft mattress. She smoothed out the sheets and laid down on top, looking up at the black iron ceiling above her. The words that he said had hurt her, cutting through her before she had the chance to put up her defenses. Out of all the arguments they have had recently, this one had to have been the worst for her. She didn't expect the words to hurt her so much as it did.

Her throat felt like there was a lump in it that she couldn't swallow, her eyes were watering and her heart raced in her chest. Katara didn't want to cry; everyone on board had grown to respect her as a strong young woman and she didn't want to show them her weakness. Yet, she was falling apart as her mind dwelled on what he had said.

" Stop this, Katara." She scolded herself as she turned onto her side, the hot wet tears now falling down her cheeks. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and frowned at her behavior. " Stop it…"

Katara clutched onto the sheets and finally gave into her emotions, crying into the sheets. She felt heart broken and useless. Katara felt like that she had done so much for him; when he needed someone to talk to, she was there. When he wanted someone to spar with, she was right there. When there was something that needed to get done, she was there.

When the tears stopped falling, she stared at the wall in front of her and fell into a deep thought. There was only one reason why what he said hurt her so much, something that she didn't want to admit to herself, something that she tried to keep concealed and hidden away. She laughed bitterly at the thought and rolled onto her back, resting her hand on top of her stomach.

" I'm so stupid…" She said bitterly.

The young waterbender had fallen for the Prince.

---

" You know, Prince Zuko, in about a few more weeks will be Katara's coming of age." Iroh said idly as he stroked his beard, standing in front of the door in Zuko's quarters. The banished Prince didn't respond as he sat in front of his shrine, eyes closed, as he meditated.

After the fall out on the deck a few days ago, things had become uncomfortable for the two on board the ship. If there was a way to avoid each other on that small ship, the two made it possible. Katara had made it her point to consume herself with either her bending or assisting Iroh with whatever he needed done and Zuko had decided to become a stricter command, which was starting to get on the nerves of the rest of his crew.

The first weeks of fall were soon approaching with the noticeable changes in the weather and the longer nights, which meant that Katara's adopted birthday was coming up. Iroh had noticed the tension between the two and was quite honestly getting tired of it. It wasn't providing anything positive or productive on the ship and was making things quite uncomfortable for a lot onboard. With Katara's birthday coming up, the old man had thought of an idea to try and get the two to patch up whatever indifferences they had… or to figure out why it got to this level.

He also didn't want to soil the young woman's coming of age celebration over a petty childish argument between herself and his thickheaded nephew. That day only came once and he wanted to make sure she got the day she deserved; even if it was to be spent on board an iron war ship with a bunch of grown men.

" I was thinking that we should stop at a port of call to do some shopping for the celebration. It'll be a great day to get everyone's mind off of what's going on right now." Iroh said in his usual optimistic manner. Zuko took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, the flames of the lit candles at the alter matching the rhythm of his breathing.

" We're not stopping anywhere." He said slowly. Iroh raised an eyebrow.

" I don't see why not, especially since we're eventually going to have to stop to resupply." He paused to wait for a comeback and didn't hear any, so he continued. " So why don't we use that time to prepare for her birthday."

" Because," Zuko paused, trying not to loose his concentration, but it was failing. " She doesn't _deserve_ a birthday party."

" That's cruel, Prince Zuko." Iroh feigned a look of shock. " Who would have thought that my own nephew would be so cold to his childhood friend!"

The Prince growled in frustration and stood up to face his uncle. Zuko knew that when his uncle tried to push an issue he wouldn't stop until he got his way. He wasn't going to let his uncle win easily this time, not when he was currently frustrated about the girl whose room was merely down the corridor of the ship. He was tired of everyone trying to push her down on him, making him feel sorry for what he did. He knew he was wrong; he didn't need forty other people to remind him!

" It's not like she didn't deserve it in the first place!" He yelled defensively. " If she didn't snap at me whenever I tried to talk to her maybe I wouldn't have said what I said!"

Iroh mentally chuckled at how childish his nephew was sounding at the moment. For someone who had turned eighteen years old and was in command of a war ship, he was definitely acting like a boyish teenager who was trying to defend why he hurt a girl's feelings. It was funny to Iroh how easily Zuko could slip so easily into that stumbling, goofy, young man and out of the cold hearted ship commander; it always kept the old man grounded knowing that his nephew didn't lose all of his compassion.

" Well, have you apologized to her yet?"

" Why should I?" Zuko slightly frowned and Iroh had to fight back the urge to laugh.

" You did hurt her feelings," _And you made her cry_… He added mentally. " You should make amends with her. There's no reason why this should break up a friendship as long as yours."

Zuko opened his mouth to say something against Iroh's reasoning, but his uncle was right. He had hurt her in more ways than one and now she refused to talk to him or even be in the same room as him. It had honestly bothered him, even if he didn't show or act upon it. He didn't want to admit it, but he had missed the late night talks, the sparing sessions, and the little things that she would do for him as a friend.

He closed his eyes to reflect on his relationship with the waterbender. Never realized that he would miss sharing time with the girl as much as he was at that moment. They were always sarcastic with each other, always trying to push each other, but it was always done playfully – but as the months rolled on, for some reason, things had became heated, as if they were building up walls because they were afraid to step further.

Playful words had starting carrying more malice than intended. He knew he screwed up and crossed a line he should have never crossed but he was also afraid to face her and deal with backlash of his actions. It hurt him to know that he had hurt her in that manner.

" Alright," He opened his eyes and returned to his cushion in front of the shrine. He knelt down and started to relax himself. " You can tell the helmsman to not leave our next stop until we've gotten the things for Ka… for her birthday." He closed his eyes and began to meditate again.

Iroh grinned, " You should get her something as well…" Zuko's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. Iroh opened the door.

" Don't push it."

" Oh, Prince Zuko," Iroh said as he stood halfway into his room. Zuko mumbled something but Iroh didn't catch it. " You should apologize to her. I'll have some tea delivered to your room in a bit."

" Alright."

Iroh left the Prince alone to meditate and closed the door behind him. He walked away, whistling a tune happily to himself. After the door had closed, Zuko opened his eyes slightly and repeated what Iroh had told him.

" … Tea brought to my..." The prince shot up and the candles' flames roared as his concentration broke. " _Uncle_!!"

Katara stood in front of Zuko's room with mixed emotions. Iroh had approached her while she was practicing her bending saying it was imperative for her to bring something to the Prince's room. She knew that he was up to something, Iroh was notorious for scheming things, but she didn't want to object to it either remembering she was his page. So here she was standing in front of Prince Zuko's door holding a tray with a teapot filled with water, a small box of Jasmine tea, and two cups.

Katara took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and then she knocked on his door. She stood and waited as she heard the young man move on the other side. Her heart started to race as the latches unlocked and the door began to open. Zuko looked down at Katara who held the tray in her hands and mentally cursed his uncle for his scheming plans.

" General Iroh said you wanted tea." Katara said flatly. She tried to look as emotionless as possible even though she wanted to run away at that very moment.

" So he did…" He mumbled. Zuko could see through Katara's front, he saw how nervous the girl was and he kicked himself for it. She wasn't personal with him at all, not even calling Iroh '_Uncle'_. Zuko stepped to the side. " Come in."

Katara stepped into the room and Zuko closed the door behind him. She placed the tray on top of the low end table and stood next to the table as if she was waiting for dismissal from Zuko. He looked at her and mentally sighed; the situation was very awkward and uncomfortable. He adjusted the sash around his robe and motioned for her to sit on one of the cushions at the table.

" Why don't you have a cup with me…" It came out weaker than he had wanted it. Katara raised an eyebrow and did as he said, adjusting her robes before sitting down. He followed suit and joined her across the table.

They didn't say anything to each other as Katara placed the cups in front of each other. Other than asking Zuko to heat up the water for the tea, they spent it in silence as Katara prepared the Jasmine tea. Zuko watched her work, noting how precise she was with her movements in making tea – though, when you're the page to a tea drinking fool, you should be good at your job. She poured his cup first and then hers.

Zuko brought the cup of tea to his lips and took a sip, " It's good."

" Your Uncle taught me well." She said coolly and took a sip from her cup.

" So… How have you been?" He saw her eyebrow twitch and he mentally kicked himself. " I mean, I haven't seen you… around… and…"

" It's because I don't want to be around you." She placed her cup down gently. " I'm a page, after all. I shouldn't be in your presence." Zuko sighed in frustration.

" Forget what I said. I acted without thinking."

" Oh, now you realize the fault to your actions a week after the fact." She glared. " How pathetic."

" I--!" He held back and bit his tongue. She was right, he was wrong, and she had all the right in the world to yell at him. So he sat there and waited for her fury to be unleashed.

" I give up. This is just stupid." Katara got up but Zuko grabbed her wrist. He looked away.

" … I'm sorry…" It came out more like a mumble and Katara blinked. She pulled her arm from his grasp.

" … What." Zuko swallowed his pride and looked at Katara, directly into her blue eyes. She looked back at him, that anxious feeling creeping upon her again. Her heart beat heavily in her chest and she swore she could hear it clearly in her ears. Katara hated getting like this around him. She slowly sat back down the cushion and rested her hands on her lap.

" I said I'm sorry for what I said. I didn't mean that, you're not just a page…. You're my best friend."

_A friend, hun… _" I'm sorry, too. I didn't mean… to get snippy like that." She shifted on the cushion. The thought of him just considering her to only be a friend bothered her more than she liked. " I… really value our friendship."

" I really… value what you do for me." He said. " I don't know what I would have done without you here… You're the only person I really trust besides Uncle."

" Really?" She blinked in mild shock. It kind of eased her tense nerves.

" Yes…" He looked down at his calloused hands in his lap. His heart was racing in his chest and it felt like he was jumping over hurdles that were getting taller and taller. Yet, for some reason, it was like he needed to get it off of his chest. " To be honest… I was afraid that I was going to loose you as a friend over what I had said. I was going to apologize…"

" I'm sure we would have overcame this…" Katara gave Zuko a small smile. " We've overcome other things together."

" Yeah, we have…."

Katara slowly took her left hand and hesitated, contemplating reaching out for his hand or not. Caught in the conflict of unfamiliar emotions, she pulled her hand back and placed it on her lap again. Zuko had noticed what she had done and reached for her hand, taking it into his larger one. Katara eyes went wide and she slightly gasped from the sudden contact. She had never been this close with him, and now that she was this close, knowing that she liked him made her suddenly uncomfortable. But mostly because she knew that he wasn't doing this because he liked her but because he was her friend.

He observed her darker hand in his, looking at each finger and the calluses on them. A young Fire Nation girl her age didn't have hands like her; they would be soft and gentle, not rough and worn like hers. But, she wasn't your average Fire Nation girl, she was a skilled fighter, strong willed, and determined. A good friend, someone he could trust… someone who was always at his side.

" I haven't held your hand like this since we left the Fire Nation…" He remarked as he continued to hold her hand, remembering the time that he had burned them when they were children. He ran a thumb over the calluses on her fingers. " Can you heal these?"

His voice sounded like a concerned whisper and she shook her head, finding the moment too intimate for her to handle. Now she was getting confused on what to do. Should she confess? Should she just watch? She cursed her conflicted emotions.

Zuko looked up at Katara and saw how her eyes stayed transfixed on theirs together. He knows he's stepping over the friendship lines into something more, but he doesn't care anymore. The Prince knew the walls they had build up around each other were crumbling that moment. He was afraid, why would he? He didn't know what she felt and he, himself, wasn't too sure himself.

Whenever she was around him, she made him feel worthwhile. She made him actually _feel_ when others made him feel hopeless. He didn't want to admit it and he was afraid to; he valued his friendship and didn't want to compromise it. But, as he sat there with her hand in his, he had finally accepted the harsh reality… He had fallen for his childhood friend.

Katara pulled her hand out of his and shivered from the closeness of the moment. Zuko cleared his throat and grabbed his cup of tea, finishing it off. It was cold and didn't taste good at all, wincing as the cold sweet tea went down his throat. Katara tugged on the collar of her black turtleneck she wore under her red robe.

" I should let Uncle know that this is a really good batch of tea." Katara said. She tried to sound as if she wasn't affected by hwat had transpired, but the slight wavering of her voice clearly gave away her uneasiness. Zuko quickly nodded in agreement, not even noticing how Katara referred to Iroh as '_Uncle'_again. He could clearly read through her emotions; Katara wasn't one who could easily mask them like himself.

" Yes, yes, we should." Katara got up and quickly made it over to Zuko's door.

" I'm going to let him know now." She quickly opened the door.

" Yes, go do that." She laughed nervously.

" I will!"

Katara quickly stepped out and closed the door behind her. Zuko fell backwards onto the tatami mat and covered his eyes with his arm. He had a crush on the waterbender and had spent a good few minutes feeling her hand in his; how awkward could things get? He groaned and cursed his Uncle again for forcing him in situations that made him feel so awkward, _especially_ when around Katara.

" I'll get over this…" He said to himself, as if saying it aloud would convince him otherwise. But he couldn't get that feeling out of his system; he sighed in defeat. Things were getting more complicated than he had expected to.

* * *

_I think we've finally climbed that hill! Yay! Sorry if it seems rushed, it kind of did to me... then again, twelve years knowing each other... When I decided to rewatch S1 to refresh my memory on the chain of events in Avatar, I noticed that Katara was always quick to make a side comment to Sokka or instigate an argument, so I decided that since she's grown up with Zuko that she'd take this approach with him as well. Also, I'm sure Katara picked on Zuko in S3 once he finally was "accepted" into the group.  
_

_Next chapter will be the final chapter for Zuko's aimless quest for the Avatar and beginning of the 'true' story for Katara. Don't worry, I've actually drafted up an outline of events for this story to incorporate and guide me to the end -- Trust me, it's going to get good... especially when Zhao resurfaces :) __I'm currently interested in finding a beta reader who can further guide my ideas and writing in the right direction. __Thanks for keeping up with me as I push out these chapters and for your reviews. _


	14. Discovery

**Where Loyalties Lie  
**_Chapter Fourteen _

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. This is purely fan created.

* * *

" This is what I call quality!" Iroh boasted as felt the sleeves of one of the green _ruqun _that hung on display in the boutique. " One thing I must admit about the Earth Kingdom is their eye for detail and quality at such a _cheap_ price."

" We don't have all day, Uncle." Zuko whispered harshly to his Uncle, shooting glares at anyone who looked at the two in the boutique. Whoever saw his glare scurried off nervously, afraid of running into an altercation with the scarred Fire Nation prince. His warning went on deaf ears as Iroh moved on to another dress in the small boutique, lamenting on the quality and detail in the embroidery.

They had arrived at the Earth Kingdom port of call just a day shy of the young waterbender's birthday. While the ship restocked for their journey, Iroh had made sure to drag his young nephew along to do a little shopping for her birthday. Even though they were at an Earth Kingdom port, it was under Fire Nation control, which meant that the things they couldn't have normally purchased were easily accessible.

" I'm quite surprised to be able to find these type of things here. I wouldn't have expected to find the ceremonial dresses in this small port."

" That's because it's under our…!"

" Now! This is perfect for little Katara!" Iroh cut Zuko off as he approached a crimson _ruqun_ that laid on display. He ran his hands across the golden embroidery on the sleeves of the dress, remarking over the detail. " This is absolutely beautiful! Sir, we'll be taking this here!" The shop owner looked up at the old general and nodded as he approached them. Iroh turned to face Zuko and raised an eyebrow. " You should get something for her, I didn't bring you with me so you could glare at everyone."

Zuko scoffed and turned around, crossing his arms over his chest, " I don't need to get her _anything_." He was lying, of course. Zuko didn't know what to get her, to be honest, and he didn't want to ask his uncle for any advice. He knew the old man was going to make it bigger than what it was and Zuko didn't want to deal with the drama that came with it.

" What a shame. Just about everyone else got her something for the celebration." Iroh nodded to the shop owner who pointed at the red _ruqun_ to confirm if that was the one he wanted. The man took the dress gently to wrap it in a box.

" That's nice to know." Zuko added dryly.

" You should be glad you have a ship filled with men of class."

" It's sad that it's the only thing they're good at." Zuko began to walk out of the boutique. " We're leaving here in two more hours. Make sure everyone is on board before we depart." Iroh chuckled as he watched his nephew leave.

" Where are you going?" He asked. The shop owner had returned, holding a box with the dress inside.

" Any place but here!"

Iroh had laughed. He knew that his nephew was going to look for a gift for Katara, it was clearly obvious by how attentive he was on this shopping adventure even if he tried to act like he was annoyed to be on this trip. Iroh was a sharp man, and like any self-aware man who was once a father, he knew that his nephew had taken a liking to the young waterbender. Just by watching the two interact with each other was just an amusing site to see.

Even if the ship couldn't tell, Iroh knew. Their awkward, shy, reactions to each other whenever they got too close for comfort was too cute to watch. The hesitations to do something, the light blushes, and small smiles they give each other whenever they interact with each other. You had to know them to know that they were in love with each other. They were trying to deny the realities of it, as if afraid to cross that line from friendship into something more, but failing to fool the old man.

" Here you go." The shop owner said. " It will be thirty gold pieces."

" Thank you, young man." Iroh paid the man and took the box from him with a smile. The young shop owner bowed slightly and returned to what he was originally doing in the shop.

Iroh had stepped out the boutique and looked around the busy port of call, taking notice of the active stands and stores. He looked over to his right and saw his nephew at a small store that sold jewelry and hair ornaments, looking at the several items on display. Iroh chuckled to himself. Ah, to be young and in love. It was certainly a beautiful thing.

They had set sail the moment Prince Zuko came abroad the ship, a small case wrapped in an emerald green cloth tucked underneath his arms. While no one dared asked him what was inside or what he bought, some of the crew members had an idea of what the prince had bought in the market place. He didn't dare say anything to them as he wordlessly made his way to his quarters.

He had honestly felt like a fool and certainly embarrassed at that jewel store. He didn't know what to get her and how to not come off as if he was buying it for a girlfriend, which the shop owner was convinced that he was buying it for. Zuko had to seriously fight the urge to lash out on the poor old man as he tried to pick between a hair accessory or some other jewelry. The prince didn't even know if she was even into things like this.

Zuko approached the small low-rise table and placed the small, cloth wrapped, case on top. He sat down on the cushion in front of it and slowly unwrapped the cloth and took the top of the case off, placing it gently next to it. Inside laid a small, gold, princess length necklace adorned with a small aquamarine stone that hung from the center. It was a simple necklace, nothing too fancy, but beautiful enough to bring out the one thing that caught his eye, how the stone resembled the colors of her eyes.

He groaned at his behavior and quickly put the lid back on the case. Zuko rubbed his eyes and sighed, hating the fact that he was starting to feel more and more like a lovesick puppy his age than a commander of a ship that was on a mission to find the Avatar. He wrapped the cloth around the black, lacquered, case and pushed it out of his view.

---

Katara held a large white box in her hands, caught off guard as Iroh smiled standing in front of her. It was her birthday today and she had spent the majority of the day doing what she normally did on board, helping around on board and practicing her bending and martial arts. But as the sun crossed the sky, and the day started to wind down, Iroh had approached her with a box while she was in her room getting things to take her bath. It caught her off guard.

" U-uncle, you really didn't have to do this…" Katara said as she looked at the box in her hands. " I'm just a page, this is too much…"

" It's your coming of age celebration," Iroh placed a hand on her shoulder and slightly squeezed it in reassurance. " You deserve to have this day as any other Fire Nation girl your age."

" … Thank you." She whispered, her heart heavy with emotion.

" Go ahead, open it."

Katara nodded slowly, walked over to her bed, and placed the box gently on top. She took the lid off and gasped as she saw what was inside. She placed the lid gently next to the box and carefully took the crimson _ruqun_ into her hands. She smiled, her eyes watering with tears that threatened to fall as she tried to hold them back. She felt overwhelmed with emotions; Katara had never expected Iroh to do this for her. The quality of the dress was impeccable, the embroidery was just beautiful, and the silks were so soft against her fingers.

" This is just… beautiful…" She whispered as she placed the dress down and picked up the gold sash, running her hands across the flower embroidery that matched the sleeves.

" I'm sure it'll fit you, unfortunately we couldn't get you properly fitted for your ceremonial _ruqun_, but I believe this will do." Katara sniffled as she wiped away her tears.

" I never expected to be wearing such a beautiful _ruqun_…" She put the sash back down and ran to Iroh. She gave him a hug and he wraps his hands around her. For that moment he feels as if he's hugging not his page but the girl he raised into a young woman, the young woman who was like his own daughter. His heart feels heavy and he tries to fight back the emotions as she lets him go. Iroh clears his throat and smiles as Katara returns to the bed to look at her dress again.

" You'll notice inside the box are various things that the crew have given to you as gifts. There's fourteen items inside that go with your dress, one for each year of your life." He turned to walk out of her room and rested his hand on the handle of the door. " We'll be waiting for you on deck."

He leaves her in her room and Katara stands before her bed, going through the delicate items that the crew had gotten for her birthday. It was customary in the Fire Nation that a young girl on her coming of age celebration receive fifteen items to wear with her dress from her closest family members and friends. Katara had known of the traditions, watching the young daughters of nobel men have their celebrations and dreaming to herself of when her day would come, but never expecting it of that extravagance due to her status as a orphaned page.

A gold ring, a bracelet with rubies encrusted, crimson red shoes with gold lining, and a delicate hair ornament were of the many things that were inside the box. She choked back a sob, unable to believe that they did this for her despite their differences. They really cared for her and did their best to make sure she had a proper coming of age ceremony. She began to change, not wanting to make them wait for her much longer.

Katara was afraid of ripping the delicate silk of the _ruqun_ she wore as she made her way to the upper deck. The dress had managed to fit her almost perfectly, only being slightly larger in the bust, but nothing that was noticeable from first glance. After putting everything on, Katara had looked at her own reflection in the mirror for a good while, running her fingers against the fabric of the dress as she still tried to absorb the fact that she was wearing such things.

She opens the door leading to the outer deck and the conversations that were once going on in her absence instantly stopped as she appeared. She looked at the soldiers who stood around a barrel that contained a fire and bowed, the hair ornaments jingling with the movement. She straightens her posture and some of the men whistle. The warrior had turned into a woman.

" I knew it'd fit you!" Iroh boasted as he quickly joined her. He extended his hand out to her and she took his, allowing him to escort her to the group. Lieutenant Jee smiled at her.

" The hair ornaments really suit you." He said warmly. " You look absolutely gorgeous."

" Thank you, Lieutenant." Katara said, bowing slightly. Jee waved a hand in front of him, laughing.

" You don't have to do that here, this isn't a formal celebration! Relax and have fun!"

" Exactly!" Iroh picked up a cup filled with a wine that was sitting on a table next to him and handed it to Katara. " Let's just celebrate your coming of age and leave the formal traditions behind!"

Katara takes a sip from the wine and slightly winces at the dry, bold, taste of the alcoholic drink. The crew laughs and she laughs with them, easing into herself and finally remembering that she's with her shipmates, her friends, her _family._ The band in place starts to place and Jee extends his hand out to her asking her for a dance and she obliges, one of the shipmates taking the cup from her so she can enjoy her first dance as a woman.

The night seems to go by like a blur for her and that moment she finally feels like a_ young girl_ who's now becoming a woman. She doesn't feel like one of the men, like a warrior, or like a page – She feels like more, like she's one of the girls at the royal court who wear beautiful _ruquns_ and jewelry, laughing girlishly under the cherry blossoms as they speak of boys and other girlish things. Katara finally feels alive.

But, as time passes and dusk becomes night, when the crew get drunk off of the plum wine and the band's songs are becoming raunchy songs only sung by sailors, she stands near the railing of the ship, away from the party, and stares out into the ocean and falls into her thoughts. He wasn't there, she thinks, and smiles bitterly at the thought. While she knew this was typical of him whenever it involved things like this, she had not expected him to not show up.

Katara had wanted him, out of everyone else, to be there. She wanted him to see her in this beautiful dress, to give her the first dance, to compliment her on how beautiful she was, to give her a gift and wish her happy birthday. The waterbender laughs to herself and looks up at the sky when she begins to tear up, mentally hating how only _he_ can make her feel like such a little love stricken girl. She holds onto the rail and blinks away the tears before wiping them away with her hand.

" Stupid boy…" She whispers to herself. She hears Iroh call out to her and she looks up, smiling in acknowledgment, and rejoins the group.

" It's no good to stand there all by yourself!" Iroh says lightly and she nods, smiling.

" I'm just tired, that's all." She says and feigns a yawn. " I think I'm going to go to bed now."

" Aw, but why so soon! Things have just begun!" Katara laughs and she places a chaste kiss on Iroh's red tinted cheeks.

" Thank you so much, Uncle. For everything, really." She whispers and Iroh's heart swells up in happiness.

He just nods and allows the young woman to retire to her room. He takes a sip from his wine and reminds of himself of his late son's coming of age celebration and then to the what if of had his son still been alive, what would he have done for Katara on this day. Iroh finishes his wine and glances up at the night sky, caught in his own thoughts about a future that would never be.

Katara opened the door to her quarters, wanting to simply go to bed rather than look for the person who didn't care enough to show up for her own celebration. She sighed as she stepped into her room, moving the excess robes out of the door's way before closing the heavy iron door.

" How was the celebration?" A low, raspy, voice asks from across the room. Katara froze in her spot for a moment as she recognized whom it belonged to.

" Fine. Everyone got foolishly drunk, but otherwise it was fine." Katara said calmly as she tried to not give away how nervous she felt at this moment. He laughed dryly and Katara turned around to face her uninvited guest. " So, coming into a woman's room a hobby of yours, Zuko?" She crossed her arms and smirked while the prince merely rolled his eyes.

" I just wanted to wish you a happy birthday," He said as held out the black lacquered case in front of him. " So here, I got you a gift."

She blinks in shock and he shifts in his spot, suddenly becoming nervous about the situation he was in. Katara slowly walked to him and took the case from him. She ran her hands over the smooth surface of the case, noting the intricate detail of the cherry blossoms that adorned the designs of the case. Katara opened it and gasped as she saw the small gold necklace inside. She covered her mouth with one hand, slightly shaking as emotions ran through her. He really did care enough to celebrate her birthday.

" I'm not good with parties and stuff, so I wanted to do it in person… away from everyone." He says softly. " If you notice, you only had received fourteen gifts… So, this is the fifteenth gift." He paused, as if he was collecting all of his might to finish what he wanted to say, "Happy birthday, Katara."

She can't hold back her emotions anymore, closes the case, and wraps her arms around the prince's neck, hugging him as the tears fall down her cheeks. Zuko stands there, his mind going crazy with thoughts and emotions, unable to think about what he should do next. He's afraid to hold her, afraid to get close, and before he has a moment more to think about what to do next she pulls away from him and wipes the tears from her eyes. Katara smiles and holds the case close to her chest.

" Thank you," She says between sniffles. " Thank you so much…"

Zuko reaches out to her and, without really thinking it through, says, " Here, let me put it on you."

Katara slowly hands the case to him and he takes it back. Zuko takes the necklace out of the case and places the case on the bed next to them. The necklace hangs gently from his rough, calloused, fingers and its at this moment where Zuko doesn't feel like the Banished Prince of the Fire Nation but like an eighteen year old boy in love who feels completely nervous and afraid to make the next move. It's now that he doesn't mind feeling this way and wants to fight back the urge to smile, and tries to unsuccessfully

Zuko slowly puts the necklace on her, never being _this_ close with her in his life. He could feel her heavy breathing, the way her body shivered as the long sleeves of his robe brushed against the exposed skin of her neck. She was filling his senses and he was getting caught within a circus of emotions. He wants to hug her that moment and quickly steps back to control himself. Katara ran her hand along the aquamarine stone that rested on the dip of her collarbone. She couldn't believe that he had gotten her something so delicate, yet, so beautiful. She wanted to cry.

He finally took a look at her. Katara had looked amazing in the _ruqun_, no longer the little soldier on board but a young woman in a flowing crimson _ruqun, _hair up in a chignon adorned with hair ornaments, and wearing a necklace that brought out her eyes even more. She looks at Zuko and puts her hands at her side.

" How do I look?" She asks timidly and gives her a small smile, the first genuine smile she's seen from him in two and a half years.

" Beautiful…" He says softly, taking a step towards her. " Absolutely beautiful."

She feels his hand against her cheek and she closes her eyes to the touch. Katara's afraid to open her eyes, she's afraid of making a move, she's afraid of losing this moment so she stands there and relishes the light touch of his fingers against her cheeks. The young page thinks she's dreaming a dream and her heart races as she feels his hand trail down her face, resting under her chin.

He leans forward and he kisses her.

It's a simple kiss; its neither aggressive or chaste, just a kiss upon her lips – just enough to make her want to never open her eyes and awaken from the dream she's in. Katara can feel him shaking above her, nervous and scared, and she leans forward into his kiss. His shaking stops, she becomes more relax, and they simply melt into the kiss.

Zuko pulls away and Katara opens her eyes to look up at golden ones. She slowly brings her hands up to his scar and its this time that he doesn't move nor flinch, allowing her to caress the dead skin. She wishes she could heal it and instead places a kiss where her fingers once were. He exhales, as if he was holding his breath the entire time, and she just smiles as she leans into him, resting her head on his shoulder. He brings his arms around her body and holds her to him, resting his chin on the top of her head, breathing in the sweet lavender smell of her hair.

There's nothing that is said that moment. There's no confessions or dramatic romantics – simply two young teenagers in each other's embrace, allowing their actions to speak their declarations for them. That night a warrior finally felt like a young woman in love and a banished prince felt like a young man.

---

" Guess the fish are still sleeping…" A young man sarcastically says to himself as he sits in his canoe, a spear resting against his shoulder, as the boat floats down an ice filled stream flanked by icebergs.

While the young boys in his tribe were now becoming of age, they still weren't old enough to accompany him on hunting trips or anything that required leaving the small tribe. Sokka was the acting Chief while his father fought the war in the Earth Kingdom with the other tribes' men, which meant that until they returned, the burden of responsibility was on his shoulders if his tribe wanted to survive another day in the harsh, cold, South Pole weather.

It was hard for him and he couldn't deny the fact that there times where he just wanted to run away from it all and just be a young man his age. Yet, war aged people faster, and young boys ended up becoming men way too soon.

Sokka sighed as he glanced down at the ice-cold ocean water, not seeing any fish in sight. Usually this area would be filled with fish around this time of year, as this was the migration path for many of them in the winter for warmer waters, but at best there was one or two every once and a while.

" If Katara were still alive, I bet she could have bended the fish out of the water for me." He grumbled as he sat up, grabbing his paddle.

He was tired, having been out there since the crack of dawn and not successfully capturing a single fish. He stuck the paddle in the ocean water and began to paddle down the stream to head back to the village. He felt the canoe rock against the water and held his free hand out to balance himself. He looked around and sighed in relief before resuming his paddling.

Then suddenly the canoe took off knocking Sokka backwards. He winced as he fell onto the hard surface of the boat and got up, rubbing his back. Sokka looked around and finally realized that he was caught in a current that was taking him out of control towards of a sea of floating ice that would be difficult to navigate around if he couldn't break out of the current.

" Argh!" He began paddling opposite of the current, but it didn't do much of anything except barely maneuver around the dangerous ice. Suddenly the canoe moved towards a thick field of ice and Sokka jumped off the canoe, barely landing safely on the ice as the canoe crashed into it. He rolled on to his back, trying to catch his breath, as he tried to get over the sudden rush of danger. He stood up and looked around.

" Great… just… great."

Sokka was stranded in the middle of a broken ice field with no boat and no possible way of getting back to the tribe safely. He didn't know how far off the current took him away from the village and he yelled in frustration, throwing the paddle into the water.

" If its not one thing, its another!" He yelled. " Nothing ever seems to go right for me! Someone _obviously_ hates me up there!"

He stomped his booted foot and felt the ice shift. Sokka went still, recognizing that the sound didn't sound right or normal. He slowly lifted his foot and cautiously moved to the side, not wanting to add any more tension or pressure to the delicate ice block he was standing on. Suddenly he heard a crack, he looked down and saw that the ice was splitting from where he stomped.

" Oh, no."

It picked up speed and soon the ice had split and ice-cold water seeped into through the cracks, violently splitting the ice farther apart. Sokka lost his footing and fell forward, holding onto the ice edge as the water pushed him and the ice out. The small ice block he was on knocked into an iceberg and he slowly got up. He jumped onto the iceberg, nearly slipping into the water as the ice block pushed out into the water from the force.

Sokka took a deep breath and exhaled, trying to gather his thoughts and think of a way to get out of this mess. He had heard of stories of tribesmen getting lost on hunting expeditions but never actually witnessed it himself. If there was one thing Sokka didn't want to be was another story for the tribe to talk about, not only that, the tribe depended on his return. He closed his eyes for a moment and opened them. He honestly didn't know where he was at now.

The young man turned around and gasped. Unless his eyes were tricking him, he swore he saw the figure of _someone_ and _something_ frozen inside that very iceberg. Sokka cautiously approached the block of ice and put a gloved hand against it. Maybe the person inside was dead? How did he even get in there? He withdrew his hand and the person's eyes inside opened up with a glow. He gasped and jumped back.

" … They're alive?!" Sokka said in disbelief. He pulled out his axe from the sling he held it in around his body and started chopping at the ice. If the person were alive inside, it'd be a matter of time before they died because of the cold. " Hold on! I'm getting you out of here!"

Another swing and the ice cracked. Sokka stopped what he was doing and took a step back as the ice continued to crack. Then a burst of air broke the ice, the iceberg shattering and a strong current of wind passing through the area, nearly knocking Sokka back. A bright beam of light shot into the air and Sokka's eyes went wide.

Once everything died down and the beam disappeared, a person emerged from the top. The water tribesman blinked; that wasn't a water tribesman at all, rather some race he's never seen in his life. The person collapsed, rolling down the side of the ice and Sokka ran to catch him. Once in his hands, he noticed the person was just a boy and he wasn't wearing anything from that designated him to be Fire Nation or Earth Kingdom.

" Hey, hey," Sokka called out. " Hey, you okay?" He shook him slightly and the boy opened his eyes slowly.

" Where am I?" He asked, his voice groggy. Sokka sighed in relief, at least the kid wasn't dead.

" You're at the South Pole." The young boy's eyes opened up instantly and he jumped out of his arms, floating down next to him. Sokka nearly fell on his back in shock.

" Really?! The South Pole?! Wow! Can we go penguin sledding?! This is amazing, I never thought I'd be here again!" He climbed up the ice and jumped down. Sokka got up and ran around the side of the iceberg. He immediately froze up when he saw the young boy trying to wake up a large beast.

" … What is that?! What are you?! Why aren't you frozen?! Where did that come from?!" The young bald boy looked at Sokka and laughed.

" This is Appa, my flying bison and I'm Aang." He pressed a finger to his lips in thought. " I don't know how I got here though…"

" Wait… what do… _What_?" Sokka shook his head and placed a gloved hand against his temple, trying to understand the situation he was just in. " Your name is Aang, you have a_ flying bison _and you don't know how you even got here? What _are _you?"

The boy blinked and then he gave a heartfelt laugh, " I'm an airbender."

Zuko's good eye went wide at the beam of light that had shone at the horizon. This had to be it; this _had_ to be the Avatar. After all of these years of wild goose chases, misinformation, and weaning hope – The Avatar was finally here within his grasp. He turned around to look at his uncle and Katara who were engaged in a game of _hanafuda_.

" Did you see that light? That has to be Avatar!" Zuko said as he pointed to the fading light in the distance. Iroh didn't bother to get up and Katara looked over her shoulder.

" Are you sure?" Katara asked, already hopeless on finding the presumed old man.

" It's the celestial lights, Prince Zuko. It's a natural occurrence down here."

" That wasn't a celestial light! That was the Avatar!"

" Zuko, we've been sailing here for two months and—" Katara said before Zuko cut her off.

" I don't care!" He yelled. She sighed in defeat. " Helmsman, make a course for the light!"

A strong wind blew past them, causing a few of their _hanafuda_ cards to fly away with the wind. Katara watched the cards fly away in the wind and shivered. There was something different about that wind… This wasn't going to just be another random goose chase. Maybe he was right, maybe this time it was the Avatar.

* * *

_We're finally here~ Thank you for reading and reviewing, everyone!_


	15. Airbender

**Where Loyalties Lie  
**_Chapter Fifteen _

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. This is purely fan created.

* * *

" An Airbender." Sokka looked at Aang with disbelief and the young boy nodded with a smile. " … You're joking, right?"

Aang raised an eyebrow at Sokka as he pushed up Appa's eyelid to wake the beast up. The flying bison groaned in protest and shifted in his place. The iceberg rocked slightly and Sokka held out his hands to maintain his balance.

" Why would I be joking?" Aang asked. " Don't the arrows give it away?" Sokka looked at Aang dryly as he shook his head.

" For all I know, you might be a Fire Nation spy." Sokka said flatly and Aang laughed nervously. " And that light beam could have signaled them to us."

" Hun?" Aang jumped into the air and flew up. Sokka's jaw dropped in shock as he watched the young airbender float down on top the saddle that lied on Appa's back. " Signal them for what? Hey, why don't I take you back?" Sokka looked at Aang suspiciously and the twelve year old sighed. " Well, you could freeze to death out here on your own and I hate to see that happen. Besides, you'll get there in no time with Appa!"

" Fine." Sokka grumbled as he walked over to the flying bising. He hesitantly placed a hand on the beast's fur and climbed up his side. Aang reached his hand out and Sokka grabbed on. He helped the Water Tribesman on to the saddle and moved to sit on the beast's neck.

" Hold on tight! It tends to be a shock for first time riders!" Aang grabbed the reins and flicked them. " Appa, yip yip!"

Appa slowly got up and approached the edge of the iceberg. He jumped into the air and flapped his tail before falling on to the water. Sokka leaned back into the saddle and rolled his eyes as Aang laughed nervously.

" It's been a while since he's flown anywhere."

" Right…"

" So, what's your name?"

" It's Sokka."

" How old are you?"

" I'm eighteen."

" Do you have any siblings?"

" You know, you're awfully talkative for a monk." Sokka quickly said, suddenly becoming agitated with all the questions. Aang winced at the sudden tone and hung his head.

" Sorry, I didn't mean to come off so fast. I just got excited…" Sokka sighed and sat up. He crawled over to the other side of the saddle and leaned over to look at Aang.

" It's not your fault. That question is just really personal and I don't like it when people ask about it." Sokka turned around and leaned against the saddle again. " My sister died twelve years ago."

" … I'm sorry." Aang hung his head. " I didn't know… I'm really sorry. "

" Don't be, it's not like I wore a sign saying 'My Sister's Dead'." Sokka crossed his arms and looked up at the faintly lit sky. " This year would have been her coming of age… She would have been sixteen on the Winter Solstice. "

" How'd she die… If you don't mind me asking? Was she ill?" Sokka eyebrows furrowed and he closed his eyes.

" She was killed."

Aang's heart skipped a beat and he closed his eyes. Such a horrible thing had happened for no explained reason. A little girl killed by the hands of someone. How cruel could this world be? The airbender laid on his back and mindlessly ran his hands against Appa's furs as his mind drifted in thought. The rest of the journey back to the small village was spent mostly in silence.

---

It was already night out when Katara glanced out the small window in Zuko's room. The one thing she hated about being in the South Pole was how she could never tell what time it really was. The sun never rose higher than the horizon and light was only for a few hours before night settled in. It was cold, it was dark, and it was depressing.

" I hate it here." Katara mumbled. She turned away from the window and walked across the room. She sat on his bed and brought her robes closer to her frame for more warmth.

" Once we find the Avatar we'll be home again." Zuko said as he joined her on the bed. " There'll be no more ports, no more endless sea, and finally my honor will be restored."

Katara sighed. Home… She was beginning to forget what it was like to live in the Fire Nation. The smells, the sceneries, the people… All of it was fading away to mere recollections, replaced by the sea and trade merchants. With so much that has changed over the past two and half years, Katara began to wonder if home would ever be home again.

The young waterbender couldn't deny it; she was losing hope on this mission to find the Avatar. An hundred fourteen year old airbender… there was no way such a person was still living today, no human could possibly live _that_ long. Of course there are a few that make it past hundred ten, but hundred fourteen? Also, the Air Nomads were destroyed over a hundred years ago, so the possibly of this oh great Avatar being alive today was damn near next to none.

Katara hung her head and grasped onto the red robes that covered her legs. She couldn't push back the ill thoughts in her mind; she was giving up… The harsh reality of never coming home now settling deep within her heart. They were never returning home.

" … And what if this isn't the Avatar? What if this is just the celestial lights like Uncle said?" She whispered and bit her lip.

" What are you saying? This is it, this _is_ the Avatar." Zuko looked at Katara and frowned.

" He's hundred and fourteen years old… What makes you think he's not already dead…" It had come out more bitter than she had intended it to and she sighed in defeat. Katara looked at Zuko and rested her hand gently on his thigh. " I'm sorry."

Zuko was silent for a moment and his face was expressionless as if he was going over what she had just said. Of course the thought had always crossed his mind once and a while but he never took it to heart. Why should he? If the Fire Sages believed that the Avatar was still alive, then he was alive. But, yet, here was the person he loved sitting before him and giving up.

" You're right… He could be dead." Zuko said. " He could have died while we were searching for him. He could have died with the rest of them… But, I won't stop. I won't stop because even if this person is dead, the Avatar is not."

" Zuko…"

" Don't give up on me, Katara." Zuko brings his hand up to Katara's face and caresses her cheek. " I will find the Avatar, if that means searching through the Water Tribes to find the next Avatar… I will. If it means traveling throughout the entire Earth Kingdom to find him, I will. I will find him and restore my honor. We _will_ return home."

Katara doesn't say anything but turns around and leans into Zuko, burying her face in the crook of his neck. She sighs and brings her hands up to cling onto the heavy fabric of his robes. Zuko wraps his arms around her tiny frame and places a kiss on the top of her hair. It's the first time in the two and a half years that she's felt like this….

Katara feels defeated. The feeling of being trapped, away, and banished weighs on her conscious and she's finally scared. Katara doesn't say anything; she doesn't because she wants him to feel like he's brought her hope again. It doesn't work though, because in her heart the waterbender feels like hope is lost and it breaks her heart to see the person she loves hold lost hope so tightly.

---

The sun was slowly rising, the dark sky turning in to a hue of purples and oranges. Sokka had managed to get some sleep, but as soon as it had came, he had woken up. Sleep didn't come easy to the teenager, and trying to sleep on a large creature he's never seen in his life didn't make things easier. He sat up and leaned over the edge of the saddle, looking at the airbender who sat with the reins held loosely in his hands.

" We're almost there." Aang said and yawned. Sokka nodded.

" I see." Sokka ran a gloved hand over his hair and sighed. " I'm afraid to tell you that what you're about to see isn't as great as you may think it is." Aang leaned his head back to look at Sokka. He gave the young man a confused expression.

" Why?"

" When you see it, you'll know why."

When they had arrived at the village, the tribe was already at work while the young children played in the snow. Aang honestly did not expect to see what he saw as he walked into the village with Sokka at his side. He had remembered the Southern Water Tribe to be grand community like its sister tribe to the North… Yet, all that remained was a small village of huts surrounded by an ice barrier. He looked at Sokka as they walked to the chief son's hut, not noticing some of the stares he got.

" What… happened?" He asked with curiosity and concern.

" Fire Nation is what happened." It came from his lips in such a dry, flat, emotionless way that it had almost sent shivers down the boy's spine.

Sokka pushed the thick animal hide flap to the side and motioned for Aang to enter his hut. Sokka followed him in and placed his things on the ground before lighting up a few of the candles around the small hut. Aang took note of how bare the place was... Usually the Water Tribes were known for having extravagant things in their homes, but this was completely the opposite. Sokka sat down on one of the fir pallets.

" You can sit down you know." Sokka added with a small laugh. Aang quickly sat down across from Sokka.

" … Um..." Aang laughed nervously and Sokka took off his gloves.

" What?" He tossed them carelessly behind him.

" … You said the Fire Nation is what happened here... What do you mean by that?"

Sokka blinked. Was he kidding? How could he not know that the Fire Nation currently was waging a war against every nation in the world and nearly having control of it all? " … How long were you in that ice berg?"

" Hun?" Aang looked at Sokka confusingly. " I'd have to say a few days, at least."

" … There's no way." Aang blinked.

" Why?"

" Because the Air Nomads disappeared over a hundred years ago." Sokka crossed his arms over his chest and sighed. " You've been in that iceberg for nearly a hundred years."

" That's not right... I remember just leaving..." Aang's voice wavered and Sokka could pick up on the uneasiness and fear in the young boys voice.

" It's the only logical explanation if you don't know about the Fire Nation's war." Sokka rested his hands on his knees. " Hey, do you know what happened to the Avatar?"

Aang's heart skipped a beat, " W-what do you mean?"

" …. I mean what I said.... You're an airbender right? The last Avatar was an airbender who disappeared over a hundred years ago."

" I... heard of the person... But... I never met him. He was from a different temple."

" Oh... alright." Sokka stood up and stretched. " You look tired. You can rest here for a while."

" Thank you, Sokka."

" No problem."

Aang waited for the tribes man to leave before running a hand down his face. He sighed and hung his head, his heart beating heavily. He was asleep in an ice berg for over a hundred years? There was a war? He leaned back on to the soft fur and curled into a ball in an attempt to fall asleep. It wouldn't come easy, and once he finally drifted off into a sleep only the memories of a storm haunted him in his dreams.

---

" Prince Zuko, you need your rest. All men need their rest." Iroh looked at his nephew with worry. They had been sailing for almost a half day since discovering the light in the sky and Zuko had not slept once. Katara had already retired to her room, trying to get whatever sleep she could.

" I won't rest until I capture the Avatar." Zuko said as he grasped on to the cold iron rail of the observation deck. He heard Iroh sigh behind him.

" You need to think about this clearly." Iroh strained. " How can you capture an Avatar on no sleep?"

" I can't rest knowing that this person has had over one hundred years to master all the elements."

" Even if he is alive, you won't find him. If your father, grand father, and great grandfather haven't found him, what makes you think that you can?"

Zuko's grip on the bars tightened. A cold breeze blew by and Zuko's red robes moved against the wind. Iroh crossed his arms under the sleeves of his robes and shifted against the cold breeze. There was no choice of failure in this mission. He was going to find the Avatar, even if it meant that he had to do it himself.

" Their honor didn't rely on his capture either."

" … You can't even fight a fly on no sleep." Iroh yawned, changing the subject. He stretched stretched. " I'm going to sleep."

Iroh left his nephew behind on the deck. As he entered the deck, he saw Katara walking towards him. She looked at Iroh and if looks could convey words, he shook his head solemnly in response. The young waterbender sighed and placed a hand on his shoulder. She squeezed it reassuringly and he patted her hand before continuing back to his room.

" Zuko..." She said softly as she stepped out on the deck. He didn't say anything in acknowledgment as she made her way to his side. " Zuko, please, you have to at least rest a bit."

" I already said--"

" You've said a lot of stupid things." Katara cut him off. She leaned against the spotting scope that was to right of him and crossed her arms. " All we're asking you to do is rest. Take a nap... Do something. You're making everyone nervous."

" Why do you think I care about what my crew thinks?" Zuko looked at Katara from the corner of his eye. She shrugged her shoulders.

" I don't know. Maybe I thought you had some compassion left in that body of yours. I was sadly mistaken."

" Sorry to disappoint." His reply dry and she chuckled at how a-typical the response was.

" But, in all seriousness, Zuko." She stood next to him, not close enough where it could leave suspicions in the minds of the crew but close enough that she could feel his warmth. No one had known of their relationship and they tried to keep it that way. Even if the crew had respected her as a soldier and as one of their own, the truth of knowing she was involved with the banish prince could have there repercussions. In the end, she wasn't them... She wasn't a child of agni; it would never be accepted. " You're making me worry." She whispered.

" You shouldn't worry yourself about me."

" I don't want to be the one nursing a sick prince back to health because he refused to take care of himself." He snorted and Katara smiled. " Navigator Jiang told me we're about another three hours from the source of the light. You should at least use some of that to get a good rest."

" You're too much like a mother." Zuko remarks sarcastically as he looks at Katara. She shrugs her shoulders and leans against the railing, her arms resting on the cold iron. The cool arctic air gently plays with the young waterbender's loose hair, only some of it pulled back into a simple top knot. He rarely sees her hair styled in such a way and notices that its similar to how his mother styled her hair. He looks away and clears his throat, not wanting to focus on memories better left forgotten.

" Being a ship full of men, I had to act like one occasionally." Katara reached for the ends of his sleeve and tugged softly. " Come _on_, Zuko. Go rest." She let his sleeve go and straightened up.

" You know we have to watch our actions around the ship..." Zuko says low, enough only for the waterbender to hear. She adjusts her thick robes around her body to better shield herself from the cold.

" I'll stand watch here, you rest. If anything happens, I'll let you know." She says without the usual comfort her voice usually carried. Zuko gives the young woman one more look before leaving the observation deck to her and retiring to his room. Katara sighs, leans against the railing, and hangs her head.

---

" Village, I'd like to introduce you to Aang. He's an airbender." Sokka said matter-of-fact, pointing to the shorter boy next to him with his thumb. The airbender grinned and the village didn't say anything in response other than a cough from one of the children.

" Hi, I'm Aang." He says cheerfully. An old woman steps forward from the crowd, her face expressionless. Aang starts to feel nervous under the piercing gaze of the old woman's old, blue, eyes.

" Please excuse our reactions, but we haven't had a foreigner here in a long time... Especially an airbender. I was under the impression that your people had disappeared over a hundred years ago. "

" Um, not to my knowledge..." He laughs nervously and runs a hand over his bald head. The old woman's expression doesn't change in the slightest and he stops laughing. Sokka pats Aang on the back as he points to the old woman lovingly.

" That is my grandmother, Aang." He says.

" You may call me Gran-gran."

" Everyone else in the village does." Sokka added. The Air Nomad merely nods with a nervous smile. A young girl approaches the airbender and presses a gloved hand to her lips.

" What's that?" She asks, pointing to the wooden staff that Aang held in his hands. Aang laughs and holds it out in front of him.

" It's my glider."

" Glider?"

" Yeah," He shakes the object and the wings on the object expand out quickly garnering an collective '_oooh_' from the young villagers. " It allows me to fly by helping me manipulate the air around me."

" Fly?" One of the boys scoffed. " People _can't_ fly."

" You also don't find people stuck in icebergs either." Sokka added sarcastically. " But I found this guy in one. Give him a chance to showcase his magic powers." He emphasized the last part of what he said by wiggling his fingers over his head. Aang slightly frowned at the comments.

" Ah-hem," He began. " If you like, I can show you."

" Do it!" The children said.

Aang held the glider behind him, positioned himself, and then with one jump took off into the air. Everyone who was now in disbelief were in awe. Here, before them, was an airbender flying above them high in the sky. It was special to see to many of the elders of the tribe knowing that now a few Air Nomads had managed to escape the genocide that claimed their people over a hundred years ago.

Gran-gran approached her grandson and grabbed on to the sleeve of his parka. He looked down at the smaller, frail, woman and she released her hold on him.

" You said you found him in an iceberg?" The old woman asked, enough for him to hear. Her grandson nodded.

" Yeah, and when I did, there was this bright light once I broke through the ice to save him."

" Strange..." Gran-gran looked up at the flying boy in the sky. " …. That an Air Nomad, let alone an _airbender_, would be frozen in an iceberg here in the South Pole."

Sokka looked at his grandmother confusingly, " What do you mean?"

Before the old woman could finish what she was telling her grandson, Aang had landed in front of them. The crowd of children had ran to him instantly, cheering and asking questions. Some were touching his glider while others were tugging and feeling his robes. The young airbender laughed as he attempted to calm down the excited tribe.

Gran-gran and Sokka took a step back from the crowd. The older woman looked up at her grandson and gave him a look. Sokka glanced at her and knew what she meant by that expression. She wanted to tell him something important and in private, away from the rest of the villagers and Aang. There was something about that airbender that didn't settle right with her and Sokka had no choice but to hear her opinion. No matter what, even if he was active Chief, she was still the village elder.

" Can you give us rides on it!?" One little girl asked. Aang looked at his glider as if he was trying to figure out if it was possible.

" I don't know... I don't think that this can carry another person's weight...." There was a collective sound of disappointment. " But! I can give you rides on my back as I jump in the sky and float down! Would you like that?!"

" Of course we would!" The tribe's children cheered. The mothers merely laughed in amusement.

Gran-gran and Sokka left the airbender with the rest of the villagers. They walked over to her hut and entered it. She lit one of the candles in the hut with a spark rock and put it down slowly. Sokka crossed his arms casually as he waited to for his grandmother to tell him what was on her mind.

" I have a bad feeling about that boy." She said simply.

" Why? He's just a kid."

" I have a feeling that if he stays here any longer he's going to attract some unwanted attention to this tribe." Sokka pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.

" I don't get what you're trying to say, Gran-gran. What trouble can a little kid bring to this tribe? He's obviously not Fire Nation."

" Sokka!" The young man stiffened at the tone of his grandmother's voice. " The Air Nomads disappeared over a hundred years ago and within their tribe was the Avatar." Gran-gran approached her grandson. " I know the Fire Nation is still looking for the Avatar, why else have they attacked our tribe? Because next in the cycle is the Water Tribe. Our waters is still constantly filled with Fire Nation ships, if they find out that an airbender is here it will result in another raid. Even if this boy is not the Avatar, the fact that his mere presence can be unwanted attention for our people is too much of a risk."

Sokka sighed, " So you want me to tell him that he needs to leave the tribe?"

" I understand he saved your life, but, you also saved his by releasing him from the iceberg. I believe your debt has already been paid. Think of your people, Sokka."

He looked at his grandmother and then outside towards the tribe. The faint laughter of the children and women grabbed at his heart. He had not heard laughter like that since the last raid twelve years ago. He couldn't simply cast away the boy, especially when he was bringing joy to a spirit devoid tribe. He just couldn't do it. Sokka looked at his grandmother and placed a hand on her frail shoulder.

" I'll let him stay for a few more hours. The tribe has not had happiness like this in years and it would be selfish of us to take it away from them. I'll tell him to leave at the end of the day. I do not want to do it in front of the tribe."

Gran-gran nodded and gave her grandson a small smile, " You're doing the right thing, Sokka."

---

Katara yawned as she rested an arm on top of the spotting scope. It had been about three hours since she ushered her lover to bed and during that entire time on the observation deck she had just stood there looking out on to a blank, white, canvas dotted with blue. She couldn't understand how he was able to stand out here for hours and not drive himself mad with the redundancy of the scenery, she had to ask some soldiers to stand watch as she took a break somewhere warm within the ship.

Katara raised her arms over her head, stretched and yawned again. So far she had not seen any signs of an Avatar, let alone an old airbender, and no one had told her of seeing one either. She was getting exhausted and bored doing this just so Zuko could finally rest. She mentally sighed at the things she did for him, acting no different than a helpless girl in love.

" Katara, there's just some things you can't do..." She told herself as she placed her hands on the rail again. They were almost approaching the light source, according to the last report she heard from one of the soldiers. They were soon going to find out if the Avatar was here or not and Katara was afraid of what Zuko's reaction was going to be if there was no Avatar here.

There were two soldiers on deck with her by her request. She wanted them there in case she needed to take another break. Unlike half of the men on this ship, she wasn't a gifted firebender who could adjust her body temperature to stay warm. Katara heard one of the soldiers move next to her.

" Do you see something flying over at the horizon?" One of them had asked. Katara looked at the older man and then over at the horizon. She couldn't make out what the figure was, it looked more like a faded dot than anything.

" It could be one of the local animals, but I'll check what it is." Katara replied as she stepped behind the spotting scope.

Katara peered into the scope, adjusting it to focus at the far distance and then to find the flying object in the sky. A few more adjustments and the once blurry object became a clear figure, too far to completely make out, but enough to know exactly what it was. Katara eyes went wide and she tried to focus in even more. There was no doubt about it, whoever that person was... they were not a Water Tribesman. She moved the scope to the left and down. There was the village.

" Private Wu, get Prince Zuko immediately." She said with authority.

" Why? Isn't he sleeping?"

Katara looked up from the scope, a firm look on her features, " Because I found the Avatar and the village that he's been hiding at."

Finally, after all these years, their journey was finally over. Relief finally rushed over her body and mind, all doubts now gone and replaced with new found hope. They were now able to return home.

* * *

_Sorry for the delay. I had originally written this chapter a month and a half ago, sent it off to get beta-checked, but the girl who was going to beta the chapter basically fell off the face of the planet. I tried to contact her but she stopped replying to my messages so this chapter was held up because of the beta reader. I felt that it wasn't right to just hold on to this chapter like this so I released it without it being checked. _

_I feel that this chapter is my weakest chapter yet. I was pretty much struggling to get this one done and trying to connect the dots... But, I haven't dropped this story yet. Just trying to balance everything. I do not want Zutara to overtake Katara's story but simply only be an element. Its very hard to balance the two, lol. Thanks for reading!_


	16. Encounter

**Where Loyalties Lie  
**_Chapter Sixteen _

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. This is purely fan created.

* * *

" It is him, isn't it?" Katara asked as she watched Zuko peer into the spotting scope, his hands turning the knobs to make adjustments, face tense and determined. She crossed her arms over her chest, hidden by the heavy sleeves of her robe, and licked her dry lips.

" It has to be," Zuko's hoarse voice said lowly as he continued to look. " Those are the colors of an airbender."

" The navigator said we're close to landing." Katara looked back out onto the sea of salt water and frozen ice before them. " What are you going to do?"

" Capture him." It was matter-of-fact and she rolled her eyes.

" It's not that simple. He's the Avatar for Agni's sake. He's mastered all the elements… Its not like you can walk onto that frozen rock and demand him to surrender." Katara tucked a few thick strands of dark brown hair behind her ear subconsciously. It was something she always did when she was nervous and Zuko knew. " I want you to really think about this."

" I've thought about this." He said, his raspy voice holding a tint of warmth despite the fact that his guards on the observation deck flanked them. He straightened up and looked at the waterbender. Katara raised an eyebrow at the sudden tone, caught off guard by the mild display of affection and concern. " I trained so hard for this day, I'm not going back without him. Besides, I have you."

" What." The teenager blinked.

" I trust that you won't fail me, Page."

Katara smiled to herself, just enough so that the Prince caught it from the corner of his right eye. " I won't, my Prince." Zuko smirked and turned around, his dark robes flowing around him.

" Men, ready the ship! Private Wu, get my uncle! We're capturing the Avatar!"

Zuko had left the deck soon after to prepare, leaving Katara behind. She turned her attention below her at the main deck and watched how everyone on board scurried about to get ready for the soon encounter. She then looked back at the horizon, the sun slowly retreating back below the horizon, and sucked in a cold breath. It burned her lungs and she closed her eyes, slowly exhaling to calm her tense nerves.

They were about to finally meet the Avatar, the spiritual tie between their world and the spirit world. Who knows what was going to happen next. Would he attack them or would he simply surrender? Would they make it back alive or would they die? She licked her lips, tucked a few loose strands of hair behind her ear, and took a step back from the railing. It was time to prepare…

* * *

" Ow!" Aang laughed as a snowball hit him in the face. A group of young children giggled and ducked behind the crude wall of snow they had built to protect them from the young boy's onslaught of snowballs. " That's not fair, I wasn't looking!"

" All is fair in war!" One of the older boys yelled from behind the snow wall.

Sokka watched from a distance at the playing children. It had been nearly three hours since his grandmother had told him to have the young airbender leave and yet he didn't have the strength to do so. Where would this child go? What harm would he actually do staying here? This kid has put actual smiles on the faces of his people; it would be cruel to snatch it so soon.

The teenager looked off into the horizon and took notice of the sun beginning to set again. The day was quickly ending and time was beginning to run out. Sokka had to make Aang leave, even if it was against his best wishes. He sighed and started to approach the playing children.

" Aang," Sokka called out. The airbender looked at Sokka, stopping in the middle of the snowball he was making. Another one had hit the boy in the face again and he fell over from being caught off guard. The children laughed and Sokka rolled his eyes.

" Augh, these kids are good…" Aang groaned as he sat up, rubbing his left cheek. He gave Sokka a lopsided grin. " Hey, Sokka."

" Aang, I have to talk to you," He looked at the kids and back at the airbender. " In private."

Aang opened his mouth but quickly closed it once he saw the expression on the teenagers face. It wasn't a light one, it was serious. There was something of importance that he had to tell him and it made the boy a little scared. What could there be that made Sokka so serious all of a sudden? What was there that had to be said in private? Aang nodded, stood up, and brushed the snow off of his clothing.

" I'll be back, guys! Don't have too much fun without me!" He said playfully. The group of kids yelled all sorts of yeses at him as Aang joined Sokka. The young chief began walking away from the group with Aang at his side, heading towards the village.

" Aang…" Sokka started hesitantly. The grey eyed boy looked up at Sokka with a smile.

" Yeah?"

" … How long do you plan on staying here?" Aang blinked at the question.

" I… never thought about that. Why?"

" Because… I feel that maybe it'd be best if you moved on." Sokka glanced at Aang to see a facial reaction but Aang seemed indifferent, more so confused than anything.

" Ah, I see." Aang crossed his arms, hiding his hands within his underarms. His fingertips were beginning to feel the sharp bite of the cold. " Is there any exact reason as to why I can't stay…"

Sokka took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, the cold air numbing his insides, " Some of the elders… believe you might attract the Fire Nation." They both stopped and he turned around to face the boy. " They want you to—" Sokka had abruptly stopped talking and felt his cheek with a gloved hand. He pulled his hand away and looked at the black smudge against the blue leather of his mitten. He looked up at the sky and so did Aang.

" What is this…?" Aang asked confusingly as more and more of the black snow began to fall around them. He lifted a hand out and caught some in his hand. It was thick and heavy, not light and soft like snow.

" … Soot mixed with snow." Sokka looked at Aang and frowned. " … The Fire Nation is coming."

" The Fire Nation?"

" … I suggest you start packing now."

Aang's eyes widened and Sokka ran off into the village. The Fire Nation was coming and it was his fault…

* * *

Katara knelt down in front of Zuko and began to tie the knots of his armor. Usually his aids assisted in putting on his military uniform, but for some reason Katara had requested to do it. The aids had given the two a strange look but Zuko quickly dismissed them, leaving the two alone in his room and Katara to put on the heavy armor.

Zuko stood there silently as Katara applied each piece of armor on his body. She didn't say anything as she tied the guards or glance at him as she tugged on each piece to make sure they were on securely; though, she could feel his eyes on her. Watching every move she made as she worked, his heart feeling heavier than it did before they entered his quarters. She stood up once she was finished and took a step back to look at him.

" It looks fine." She said.

" I don't know why you did this." Zuko said with a slight tinge of amusement and she laughed.

" Don't the wives of soldiers put on their husband's armor before they go off into a major battle?"

" Yes."

" I decided to do that." She took a step forward, closing the gap between them. " I at least wanted to experience that in case… anything went wrong."

" Fire Lords don't have their wives do this for them," Zuko said softly as he caressed Katara's cheek. " We have aids and pages for that."

" Well, I'm sorry, my Prince." She gave him a small smile and his hand linger on her cheek, gently rubbing his thumb across. She leaned into the embrace.

" I'm not the Fire Lord yet, Katara," he said lightly. " But after today, my right to the throne will be restored."

" Don't die out there, Zuko." Katara said strongly, pulling away from his affections. She crossed her arms and slightly frowned. "You're stronger, faster, and smarter… If you fail, I swear, once I die I'll make sure and beat your ass for it in the Spirit World."

" Trust me, I won't loose to an old man." He cupped her chin and leaned forward, placing a chaste kiss on her lips. " The Avatar is mine."

" He better be." She said against his lips with a smirk and kissed him. He leaned into her, deepening the kiss, but she pulled away. He looked at her with a raised eyebrow and she placed an index finger on his lips. " First, we capture the Avatar… then we celebrate." She whispered. " Now, I must get ready."

Katara left his cabin and quickly made her way to her own. Once she got inside her own room, she glanced at the armor that hung in the corner of the iron quarters. She slowly walked over to it and ran her fingers against the smooth polished surface of the red metal. Katara bit her lower lip as her thoughts about the uncertainty of this encounter returned.

What if they didn't make it? What if it isn't the Avatar? What if Zuko brought the Avatar back and he didn't have his throne restored? The unanswered questions made the waterbender dreading the encounter more than relishing in the fact that their three year goose chase maybe finally over. She sighed and began to remove the armor from the stand it was on. It felt heavier than normal to her.

She changed in silence, try to push her thoughts aside and focus on the future where she was back in the Fire Nation, happy at Zuko's side and as Iroh's royal page. But, it was hard to do with each added weight of metal on her body.

* * *

" Make sure all the children are in the huts safe and sound with the elders! They are not to come out! I want the young men to flank the entrance!" Sokka ordered from outside the village entrance. The black snow was falling heavier than earlier, signaling that the ships were close by, and it only made him even more anxious of what was to come.

Everyone was running around, either preparing for the sudden arrival of the Fire Nation or in confusion. From a distance, Aang watched on with Appa by his side. The guilt still weighed heavy on him; the guilt of having another problem brought onto others because he was there. This curse that he had did no good but only harm… He did not even know what state the world was in, but it was so different than it once was. To see Water Tribemen show panic and fear at the mere mentioning of the Fire Nation was something that confused the young boy.

" We should get going, Appa." Aang said sullenly as he patted the beast on its side. " Let's go home."

Sokka stood at the entrance to their village that faced the ocean. Behind him were the three young boys who were at least old enough to defend the village and around the four were the rest of the village. It was silent, save for the ocean waters that sloshed against the ice and the cold winds that occasionally blew. The black snow continued the fall and along with the heavy snow was the smell of burning coal.

" They're almost here…" Sokka said quietly to himself.

He felt the ice beneath his feet shake slightly, then more erratically before hearing the sounds of it cracking. There were murmurs behind him from the villagers as black shadow came into view. He could feel his heart racing as the black shadow became the image of a large iron ship pushing its way though the thick ice and towards their village. He took one step backwards, as did the rest of the village, and then another as the large ship inched closer and closer. It stopped and Sokka cautiously took another step back.

Steam blew from the vents on the ship and the loading plank lowered from the ships bow onto the ice, landing hard and shooting snow up into the air. Sokka head his arm up to block the gust that blew his way. He put his arm back down and looked up at the ship, focusing on the people that stood on top. It looked like group of soldiers with their commander and it wasn't long before they descended down the plank.

Sokka held his place and licked his lower lip as he waited. The sound of their boots against the metal surface seemed to resonate louder than he remembered from a child. The sound of ice being crushed beneath their feet made some of the villagers take a step backwards with each they took forward. But, Sokka stayed where he stood, waiting for their commander to approach him… To find out what the man – no – boy wanted.

" I came here looking for a man!" The young man announced as he approached the villagers. " He's an airbender! Probably no older than the elders in this tribe!" He stopped just shy of a few feet from Sokka. " I know he's here."

Sokka frowned, " There's no airbenders in this village let alone any benders. You made sure to take every single one in our village."

" I know he's here," Zuko said. " I saw him."

" You saw nothing. There's no benders here." Sokka's eyes drifted towards the shorter solider next to him. Was that a Fire Nation soldier with blue eyes? That was strange… the Fire Nation people either had gold, brown, or grey eyes… But blue? That was a trait of the Water Tribe. He couldn't make out who the person was because of the mask that covered their face. He quickly turned his attentions back to the prince.

" If you don't tell me where he is, I won't hesitate to smoke him out." Zuko held out his palm and bended a flame above it. Sokka didn't budge.

" You have to get through us first. We're not letting you take us down without fight." He held out his club in front of him, pointing it at Zuko. " Not this time."

" Are you willing to die for this man? This man that's nothing more than a coward?"

" Like I said, there's no benders here. We'll die protecting what's ours, not for some person who doesn't exist."

The two didn't say anything to each other for a moment, instead staring at each other. Observing one other, seeing which one was going to falter first. Zuko clicked his tongue and bended the fire into a dagger in his hand. Sokka took a defensive stand the moment he saw it.

" You're a foolish leader." Zuko said grimly. " Burn the village down and find the airbender!"

A sharp wind blew across the area; nearly making a few loose their balance. Then a sheet of snow followed in it's wake towards the prince and his men. Katara quickly reacted, turning around and in one quick move bending the snow into daggers and back towards the direction from which it came. The villagers gasped and stared in disbelief.

Sokka's eyes went wide. His suspicions were right, the soldier was a Water Tribesman, and not only that a waterbender! He opened his mouth but before he could say anything, a blur of yellow and orange flew between him and the Prince sending snow flying in their direction. Some of it landed on Sokka while the masked waterbender made sure to bend it away before it even managed to land on them.

" Are you looking for me?" Aang's young voice carried out as Sokka wiped the snow off of his face and brushed it off of shoulders. Everyone turned their attentions to the young boy that stood to the far corner of them, staff in hand, with a childish grin. Zuko's good eye went wide and he could hear Katara's soft gasp next to him.

" After all this time searching… the Avatar is nothing more than a _little boy_?" Murmurs and gasps of shock broke out among the villagers. Sokka gasped in shock as he looked at the boy. All this time, the Avatar was among them and he was nothing more than a little boy. Just a little… _boy_.

" Were you expecting some _old man_?" Aang asked, sarcastically imitating an old man to add emphasis to what he just said. Zuko glared at the airbender and the grin quickly fell off the boy's face.

" I've waited all my life for this day…" Zuko said as he approached the airbender, Katara not too far behind him, as his soldiers flanked the boy. Aang looked around him and held his staff in front of him defensively. " You're coming with me, dead or alive."

The young airbender quickly spun around around, swinging his staff around his body to bend gusts of air at the soldiers. They flew backwards from the wind, landing in the snow. Aang then swung his staff at Zuko and Katara, bending a strong gust of wind at them. Katara lost her footing and was flung backwards, falling hard onto the snow, her helmet knocked off.

She winced as she slowly sat up, her hair coming loose from the bun she kept it in, trying to catch the breath she had lost from the attack. She shook her head and slowly stood up. After blinking a few times to gain focus, she joined Zuko's side once again. The village gasped in horror. It couldn't be… There was no way.

Sokka felt his heart skip in his chest. No, there was no way…

" If that's how you want things to be…"

Zuko glanced at Katara and she quickly nodded, as if understanding what he had ordered her to do. She knelt down, placed her hand on the snow, and bended the ice into a dagger. Quickly, Katara jumped up and ran towards the villagers, grabbing Gran-Gran by her parka and pulling the old woman to her. She pulled the woman's arms around her back and brought the dagger up to the woman's neck, while pinning her arms behind her.

The villagers screamed in shock and fear, but Katara didn't budge. She pushed the dagger against Gran-Gran's neck. Sokka stood watching in shock caught between running to save his grandmother and screaming out loud at his 'sister'. There was no way… There was no way that this girl was who he thought she was. There was no way… He must have been hallucinating. Katara pulled the woman with her as she stepped away from the group slowly.

" I will not hesitate to kill this woman, Avatar." Katara threatened. " Either you come or I kill her and the rest of this village."

Aang glanced at the villagers and bit his lower lip. They were all in hysterics; crying, shaking, and pleading with this Fire Nation girl to let their elder go. He looked at Sokka and noticed how the boy stood there in shock, unable to move let alone think of what to do next. He sighed and looked at Zuko, holding his staff in front of him, surrendering.

" I'll go with you if you promise not to hurt them."

" My word is my word." Zuko said coolly. Aang hung his head and allowed the soldiers to take his staff and cuff him.

Katara released Gran-Gran and pushed her back to the villagers, bending the ice dagger into water. The women in the village quickly joined the old woman's side and it looked like Gran-Gran was doing more of the consoling than the women themselves. Sokka watched, speechless, as his mind tried to put everything together. It was like a blur as he watched the soldiers lead the boy up into the ship, Zuko and Katara close behind them.

He took one step forward... then another step…

" …. Katara?" It sounded like a squeak that went on deaf ears. " … Katara?" She was almost inside the ship and his heart was racing. He had to know. He had to know that his mind wasn't playing tricks on him. That he was hallucinating. He _needed_ to know. " _Katara_!"

The young waterbender quickly turned around at the sound of her voice and Sokka eyes went wide. _It was her!_ After all these years thinking she was dead, his baby sister was alive and well. Katara stood there, looking towards the village, as she tried to find out who had called her name. Sokka reached out with one hand but the ship's plank quickly sealed itself, separating him from her. She didn't see him. He fell to his knees and covered his face with one gloved hand. His sister was alive… and she was a soldier of the Fire Nation.

" She's alive…." He whispered to himself. " Katara's alive…."

Sokka felt a hand on his soldier and looked up to see his grandmother's face, " But she's not our Katara."

" I have to save her."

" I don't think she needs any saving, Sokka." Gran-Gran said sullenly.

" You don't understand, they've brainwashed her." He sighed. " I have to get her out of there."

" The person you need to save isn't Katara," Gran-Gran began as she watched Sokka stand up. The villagers had went back, repairing any damages that had been done. It was only the two leaders standing at the water's edge watching the departed war ship sail off into the horizon. " It's the Avatar."

" How _can_ you say _that_?"

" Because, my grandson, if there's one person who can restore balance and hope it's _him_." Gran-Gran smiled sullenly. " I believe that today marked your destines to be united. I feel that you and your sister will reunite, but, through him."

Sokka sighed, " And how do you suggest I chase a war ship to _save_ the Avatar. "

" How were you going to save your sister?"

She had a point and Sokka groaned. Obviously the canoe idea wasn't going to get him any closer to that ship than he wanted. He looked back at the village and then again to the horizon as he tried to contemplate his options. What was he going to do? He heard a loud roar in the distance and looked at where it came from to see the Avatar's flying beast coming up over a hill.

" I guess I'll use his flying beast." Sokka laughed, albeit dryly. " Who better knows where to find the Avatar than his own pet?"

* * *

" I think this staff would make a nice gift for my father," Zuko said as he observed the wooden object in his hands. Aang frowned at the comment but it went unnoticed by the scarred prince. " But, I guess you wouldn't know anything about them considering you were raised by monks. Take him to the brig!" He turned to his Uncle and a soldier who stood next to him and handed the soldier the staff. " Bring this to my room."

" What you going to be doing next, Prince Zuko?" Uncle Iroh asked as the teenager walked away from them.

" To check up on the Page." He said flatly without looking back. Iroh chuckled to himself and patted the soldier on his shoulder.

" I'm going to go take a nap." He said as he followed after Zuko's lead into the cabins of the ship.

Katara winced as she took off her armor. It hurt when she was slammed against the hard snow, but it had hurt even more now that she finally had settled down. She placed the heavy metal pieces on her bed and lifted up her tunic to inspect the bruising on her side. It was red but she was sure by the next morning it was going to be black and blue. She pulled her tunic back down and sighed in relief.

At least the hunt was finally over. They had the Avatar and now they were finally able to go home.

Home…. Why did it sound so different? Why was she suddenly feeling confused about it? How come… that boy knew her name? It was strange; she had never been there let alone seen snow until their arrival in this barren miserable place and yet those people looked at her as if they seen a ghost and that boy called out her name?

She turned around to face the mirror and looked at herself. They had the same skin tone as her, the same eyes, and the same build… They were her people… Yet… they were complete strangers. It was confusing….

" What are you thinking about?" Zuko asked. His raspy voice took the waterbender away from her thoughts and she looked up at the Prince who stood in front of her door. She shook her head and smiled to herself.

" Nothing, it's nothing."

" It had to been something if you didn't hear me come in."

" It was nothing. Just thinking about when this bruise on my side is gonna heal." She said as she pointed to her side. She gave a small laugh as Zuko walked over to her. " I've had worst."

" It hurts?" He asked and she slowly nodded.

" I should have been more alert. I underestimated him." She sighed. " It was my fault." Zuko knelt down in front of her and pushed up her tunic. " H-hey! What are you doing?"

" Sssh, be quiet for once. I'm just looking at how bad it is." He said softly, catching the girl off guard. She froze as his hands brushed against her side and over the curve of her hips. " It's bad but… It'll go away in a day or two."

" Your random moments of sensitivity are odd." Katara said dryly. He grunted and pressed his thumb into hip causing her to yelp.

" And this is coming from the girl who complains that I'm not sensitive enough." He replaced his thumb with his lips and she shivered from the kiss. He looked up at Katara with a lopsided smirk. " Instead of complaining, you should take advantage of this moment. I'm in a good mood right now."

Katara chuckled, " Its not everyday I get to have a prince on his knees."

" Exactly." He stood up and pushed her against the iron wall gently, trapping her between his body and the wall. He held his arms up on either side of her and she rolled her eyes. " I like this better though."

" Ever so dominating."

" And you like it." He moved forward for kiss….

…And a loud bang erupted from somewhere in the ship. Zuko instantly straightened and turned around, growling in frustration at the interruption. If things were ever to go right in this boy's life there was some guarantee that it was never going to last long. An announcement was yelled across the ship that the Avatar had escaped and Katara sighed. The prince ran a hand down his face and made his way to the door.

" I think we may have a problem." Katara said as she fixed her clothes " I'm going to my quarters," He said as he opened the door. " I have a feeling that he's not leaving without that staff of his."

He had to get off of this ship. That was the only thing that kept running through his mind; the fact that he had to get off of that ship and make it back to the Southern Air Temple in once piece. Even if he was the Avatar, he wasn't going to just willingly surrender himself to the enemy. He had to find out what happened in the world within the past hundred years and what he had to do as the Avatar to correct it, even if he truly did not want to accept his destiny.

Aang pushed his way though the soldiers and weaved through the dimly lit twisted hallways of the ship as he searched for his staff to escape off of the ship. A gust of wind here, a nimble move there, and a check through every room lead the young Avatar through a maze of nothing. He finally made it up to the top floor of the quarters and stumbled across an opened room. He peered inside to find his staff lying against a shrine in the open.

" My staff!" He said in relief as he ran towards it. It didn't last long when he heard the door shut behind him. He turned around to be face to face with Prince Zuko who stood at the door.

" Looks like I underestimated you." Zuko said. Aang gulped and took a step backwards, his hand blindly reaching for his staff behind him. The firebender shot a blast of fire at him and Aang jumped out of the way, forgetting his staff. Zuko continued onslaught and Aang found it more difficult to avoid the barrage of flames. He jumped over the Prince and bended the air around him to carry him across to the other side of the room. Aang quickly grabbed his staff and spun it around to deflect some of the flames.

He then swung his staff, bending the air to pick up the mattress and slam it against the firebending prince into the wall and then upwards, sending him up against the roof. Aang quickly unlocked the door and jetted out, leaving a disoriented prince behind.

" There has to be a way out of here…!" Aang said to himself as he ran down the hallway.

Katara ran inside Zuko's room and immediately knelt down next to him. She helped him up off of the floor.

" Where is he? Are you okay?" Katara asked. Zuko rubbed his head and shook his head.

" Get him before he manages to escape!"

" Zu—"

" _Do it_! _It's an order_!"

Katara took a hesitantly took a stepback, caught off guard by how desperate Zuko had sounded that moment. In all the years she's known him, this was the first time he had sounded _desperate_. His world was crashing before him again and not only that, he was being outsmarted by a _little boy_. There was more than honor at stake here; it was everything.

She ran out the room and after the airbender, following the sound of soldiers yelling and noises. She made her way onto the deck of the ship and looked up at the observation deck. If he was an airbender, the only way he would try to escape is from there. Then she saw the boy jump off of the observation deck, flicking his staff open into a glider, and attempting to fly off.

" No, you're not escaping, Avatar!" She yelled as she bended the water from one of the barrels on the ship towards the boy.

The water wrapped around Aang's right ankle like a whip and she pulled down, causing the boy to lose lift and fall back down to the deck. Katara pulled the water back and she approached the airbender slowly. Aang got up as he shook his head, recovering from he hard fall. She approached him as the water snaked up her arm.

" I'm not going to let you escape. We've been waiting for this day too long to loose you now." She released the water from her arm and bended the liquid above her head into ice daggers. " Even if that means we have to kill you to do it."

The sound of Appa's growl resonated through the air as the large flying bison approached the ship. Katara quickly turned around and lost her concentration, the icicles falling and shattering on the iron deck upon impact. Aang's expression became brighter as he grinned at the arrival of his lifelong pet.

" What is that thing?" She asked in shock. Aang grabbed his glider and jumped up.

" Appa!" Aang called out, receiving another groan from the beast. Katara quickly turned around and bended the shattered ice back into sharp daggers before shooting them at the Avatar.

Aang jumped out the way, one nearly grazing his upper arm. He stumbled backwards and Katara bended more water towards him, each one more aggressive as the next, pushing him closer and closer to the edge of the ship. With one more push, Katara bended another whip of water at Aang that caused him to loose balance and fall overboard.

" Aang! No! Aang!" Sokka yelled from the flying bison. Katara looked up at where the voice came from and frown. It was that boy again – the boy that knew her name. Sokka glanced down at the ship and noticed Katara looking at him, no, glaring at him. The way she looked at him made his heart sink…. Her eyes were so cold, filled with so much hate. He quickly looked away and focused on the matter at hand: Aang.

He called his name out again. If the Avatar died, hope for the world would be gone and Gran-Gran told him that if he ever wanted to be reunited with his sister again, Aang would be the answer to it. He couldn't let that boy die – no, not when it meant that he could save his sister from the brainwashing of the Fire Nation.

" Aang! _Aang!_"

A bright glow illuminated from the water and then a large waterspout of water shot up with Aang in the center of it. This time, he looked different. This time he didn't look like the goofy bald young kid with the glider; he looked like a diety – he looked like the Avatar. Sokka stared with wide eyes as the Avatar descended onto the ship with a large wave of water.

Katara tried to hold her ground. She tried to bend the onslaught of water away from her but the strength of the Avatar's wave knocked her against the bulkhead of the ship's quarters. She lost her breath as she hit the ship with her back, falling onto the deck like a lifeless slump. Aang recovered from the Avatar state and collapsed onto the deck.

" Aang! Aang!" Sokka called out as he brought Appa to the ship. The beast landed and he immediately got off and to Aang's side. He picked the boy up and shook him lightly. " Aang, hey, listen to me. We have to get out of here."

" Oh, hey, Sokka. Thanks for coming."

" Good, good. This is good. You're not dead. Come on, we have to get out of here. Can you walk?"

" Yeah, I can. Can you get my staff?"

" We're making progress! Great! You get on your flying beast thing and I'll grab your staff."

Aang nodded slowly and got on Appa as Sokka ran off to find Aang's staff. He spotted it and ran to it. Sokka bent down to grab it but then he saw Katara grab onto the other end of the wooden glider. He looked up and faced his sister who looked back at him with cold eyes. The side of her lip was bleeding and it looked like she was in pain; he was caught between wanting to hug her and running away.

Katara stared at Sokka, trying to figure this boy out. Trying to figure out how come he knows her yet she doesn't know him. Then, without realizing it, she let go of the staff and Sokka took off running back to Appa. She knelt down onto her knees and cradled her side as she watched the two take off into the sky with their flying bison. She was tired and in pain…. She couldn't fight anymore; they lost this time.

" Shoot them down! Make sure they don't get away!" Zuko yelled as he ran onto the deck. Katara slowly stood up, wincing from the pain. She felt Uncle Iroh's hand on her shoulders and she looked at him while he gave her a small smile in return.

" I tried…" She whispered in pain and Iroh shook his head.

" I know, my little one."

" Uncle!" Zuko barked.

" Right, Prince Zuko!"

The two simultaneously shot a blast of fire at the flying bison but Aang had deflected it towards the glacier of ice next to their small warship. An avalanche of snow came tumbling down on top of their ship and Katara managed to bend the chunks of ice that threatened to fall on them.

Zuko ran over to Katara and held her against him.

" We'll get him," He whispered. " I promise."

All she could think of was the pain her body felt, that their opportunity to go back home was lost again, and the boy that knew her name.

* * *

" How come you didn't tell us that you are the Avatar?" Sokka asked as he leaned into the saddle. Aang shrugged his shoulders. " How come you didn't tell me?"

" I don't want to be the Avatar." He picked at the frayed strands of his clothes. " I didn't want to be…"

" …. It's nice to know that the reason this world fell apart was due to the Avatar's selfishness." Sokka said sarcastically with hinted bitterness. Aang sighed in frustrated.

" I'm sorry! But it wasn't like I had a choice in the matter!"

" Alright, its not like we can focus on what happened then… We need to focus on what's going on now. Aang, the world needs you now. You need to be the Avatar."

" I know…. I know, Sokka."

" Then, what's stopping you?"

" I need to master all four elements." Aang sighed. " I'm not a fully realized Avatar… I don't even know how I did that back there."

Sokka crossed his arms and pursed his lips as if in thought, " Well, I know that the Nothern Water Tribe has waterbenders… Maybe you can try mastering water first?"

" Really?"

" Yeah. Then we can go from there."

" Yeah! That's a great idea! Then maybe I can beat that waterbender that prince has!" Sokka's heart skipped a beat but he didn't show the discomfort in his face.

" Yeah…" Aang reached into one of the sacks they had and pulled out a map.

" But first we have to go here, here, and… here!" He said as he pointed to three locations other than the Nothern Water Tribe. Sokka raised an eyebrow.

" Why?"

" Because there are things there that I want to do! I want to have fun for a bit before I jump into the Avatar training!"

All Sokka could do was facepalm and groan at the grinning airbender.

* * *

_I guess FFnet has new formatting? Line breaks are completely gone now?_

_Well, this chapter took 4 months to write. I was literally digging for inspiration and forcefully writing it... so I believe this is my weakest chapter yet. I also suck at action scenes. I am terrible at action scenes. Now the story begins... r&r and all that jazz_


	17. Dishonorable

**Where Loyalties Lie  
**_Chapter Seventeen _

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. This is purely fan created.

* * *

" How's the injuries? Does it still hurt?"

Katara sat up in her bed and shook her head with a small smile. It had been two days since the encounter with the Avatar and they finally were now setting sail after removing the snow damage from the war ship. Katara had spent most of that time in her quarters recovering from the fight with the Avatar onboard the ship. Even though she had an understanding of how to heal her self, there were just some injuries that she didn't know how to heal with her bending. Which caused her to start thinking about those water tribesmen and the m ore and more she thought about them the more she began to question herself.

What exactly is she? How come her bending is only strong at certain times? Why does it seem like she's fighting a force whenever she did certain moves with her bending? Endless questions without on foreseeable answer in sight. It was hard to rest with such thoughts on her mind.

" Not as much as before. I'll be back to my normal self by tomorrow." She stretched and Zuko chuckled as he leaned against the wall across from her.

" We should be arriving to port in another day or two. We'll get the ship repaired and restock and then sail off to start the search again."

" How's the damage?"

"It's bad, but it's not enough that we can't get back to a port."

Katara patted the empty spot on the bed next to her and Zuko walked across the small room to sit on the bed. She leaned forward and took him into an embrace, burying her face in the crook of his neck, holding him tight against her. She breathed in his scent and exhaled, shuddering ever so lightly. Zuko wrapped his arms around her body and softly ran his hand up and down her back.

" I love you…" She whispered. Zuko slightly stiffened at the declaration but came over it as she shifted against him to get comfortable. Those words weren't something that was said between the two young lovers and it was odd to hear those words roll off of her lips like that. While he did love the young waterbender, it was hard for him to say it, let alone show it as frequently as she did.

Out of all the things that had happened within those twenty four hours of finding the Avatar, the visit to that miserable barren place had made her realized something she never wanted to accept; that she was alone. She was alone and she was different…. All she had was this person in her arms.

" We'll never be apart, right?" She asked. " We'll always be together, right?"

Zuko licked his dry lips, " Yes," he wasn't confident but he tried to make it sound as if he was. " We'll always be together…."

The realities of their relationship was beginning to surface and neither wanted to accept it.

**ooo**

" Do you know that waterbending ninja?"

" That waterbending _what_?"

Sokka slightly frowned at the boy's question. While he was getting used to the barrage of questions the kid had for the teenager at every moment of the day, he still wasn't used to the very offbeat ones that were completely random from the conversation at hand. Aang blinked at Sokka and laughed nervously at the annoyed reaction the eighteen year old responded with.

" That waterbender who seems to be like that prince's guard? You looked at her as if you knew her."

" He's a _prince_? Wait. Scratch that. I don't even want to know. " Sokka scratched behind his head and sighed. " I think she's my sister."

" I thought you said she was dead…."

" Well, I guess she isn't." Sokka snapped. Aang winced and he sighed again. He realized he needed to stop lashing out at the young boy whenever he annoyed him. " I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you. Things have just been a bit frustrating… Like flying on this animal for two days, the fact we have no food, the fact that we now have an Fire Nation army chasing us…" He crossed his arms. " You know, those things can get to a person."

Aang grabbed the reins on Appa and climbed up and over the saddle to sit on the flying bison's shoulders. Sokka crossed to the other side and rested his head on the saddle's edge. He watched as he controlled the beat to turn towards the east, away from the setting sun.

" If she's your sister, what are you going to do?" Sokka blinked at Aang's question. This was the first time he had ever heard the boy sound so serious before. He shook his head and rubbed his temple. It was complicated, too complicated for him to deal with right at that moment.

" … I guess I'll save her." Sokka turned around so that his back was resting against the saddle and looked up at the orange sky. " What else can I do?"

" Do whatever you can do, I guess."

**ooo**

They were almost at the port of call, according to the ship's navigator. An hour or less away, which prompted General Iroh to discuss the repair timeframe and how long they were going to stay at port. Zuko had made it very apparent that he did not want to stay there long despite Iroh's protests. To the prince, every second counted. Each moment waste was even more of a distance put between him and the Avatar, and that's not what he wanted.

" I believe Commander Zhao has command of this port." Lieutenant Jee mentioned as he stroked his chin. Zuko's eyebrow twitched and Iroh gave his nephew a look to remind him to mind his tongue.

" Who would have thought that he'd have command over an entire port. He's certainly rising in the ranks, isn't he?" Iroh added lightly with a chuckle. Zuko rubbed his temple.

" I don't care if he's the commander of the entire army, no one is to let him know about our encounter with the Avatar."

Everyone in the room looked at the prince with mixed reactions. Lieutenant Jee raised an eyebrow and shifted in his seat, " Please excuse me for asking this, but why?"

" Because if he finds out he'll start going after him. I don't want to have to worry about another obstacle on this mission. The quicker we get this shipped repaired, the closer we are to the Avatar."

The ship docked at the Fire Nation controlled port on one of the most southern tips of the Earth Kingdom. While the sea of ice was long forgotten in the Southern poles, the cold air was still ever present. A sign that winter was now on its way, another year soon ending.

Once the plank was lowered, Zuko made his way down to dock with Katara and Iroh at his side. The familiar smells of the Fire Nation seemed like an euphoria to the waterbender; it eased her tensed nerves and almost calmed her. It had been weeks since they've been at a Fire Nation controlled port – it made her yearn to return home even more.

" Whatever happens, just don't mention the Avatar." Zuko whispered as they stepped onto the docks of the harbor. Katara nodded and Iroh grunted in response. They continued onwards to the base to find someone to inform for the ship repairs.

" Ah, Prince Zuko, the great General Iroh…." The three stopped and turned around. That voice was familiar; too familiar. " …And the lovely page Katara."

" Commander Zhao." Zuko said with a frown. It didn't faze the older officer and he merely ignored it.

" What brings you all to my harbor?"

" Our ship needs repairs."

Zhao glanced over Zuko's shoulder and raised an eyebrow at the extensive damage on the front end of the ship, " What happened?"

" An accident."

" With what?" Zuko blinked and he nudge his uncle. Iroh cleared his throat.

" We ran into… an Earth Kingdom ship… and we received some damage… Right, Katara?"

Katara slightly jumped. She didn't expect to be pulled into this charade, " Yes! That's what happened."

Zhao looked at the three with skepticism but didn't show it. Instead he smirked and stepped aside, extending his hand outward as if he was showing them the way to the camp. He looked at Katara and observed the way she looked. Besides the military uniform she wore, with a little bit more design signifying her status as a royal page, she looked as if she was recovering from a fight. The young man shifted uncomfortably under his gaze.

" Why don't you entertain us with that story over a drink? I'd love to hear it, _especially_ since it looks as if you'd engaged them in a battle."

" No, we rather not."

Iroh placed his hand on his nephews shoulder and squeezed, " Prince Zuko, let's take up the commander's offer. We're his humble guests after all." Zuko sighed in defeat and Iroh quickly joined Zhao's side. " Let's have some tea! I love ginseng."

" I don't like the way he looked at me." Katara said coolly as she watched Iroh and Zhao make their way into the camp. Zuko clenched his hands into a fist.

" I don't like him at all." He followed after his Uncle and Katara soon followed.

**ooo**

" It has to be a good three years since I've last seen you, Katara." Zhao said casually as he poured the page a cup of hot ginseng tea. Iroh happy sipped his serving while Zuko ignored his, keeping his arms crossed and attention away from the Commander.

" It has been three years, Commander Zhao." Katara said with slight reserve. She hesitantly brought her cup to her lips and sipped the tea gently.

They were seated around a table inside Zhao's war room. It was modest in decoration; a large map of the world hung on the far wall with a collection of swords underneath. Candles were lit to illuminate the otherwise dim room and an incent burned to cover the sweat smelling ocean with the strong spice known to the Fire Nation.

Zhao continued to stand after he placed the tea pot down. He cleared his throat and approached Katara again. He stood next to her.

" So, now, explain to me how you got that injury on your cheek." He said coolly. Katara absently brought a hand to her face and ran her finger along the faint scabbed cut. She could feel Zuko eyeing her and tried to think of some fib to build along what was already said at the docks.

" I barely missed an earthbender's … stone…." Katara lied.

" A stone?"

" … Y-yes… They kept some on board…."

" Ah, well, I guess that would make some sense." Zhao placed his hand on her shoulder and the young woman froze in her seat. " A pity they marred such a beautiful face. "

" I, uh… thank you…." Zhao removed his hand and made his way around the table to face the waterbender. He noticed how tense the prince reacted to his closeness with the waterbender and mentally made a note to find out the reason behind it. If it was what he assumed it to be, it would great news to send back to the Fire Nation.

The 'Traitor Prince' in love with the enemy, a Waterbender. How poetic.

" Remind me before you leave to give you something. I found it along my… journeys… and thought it'd be perfect for you to have."

Katara nodded slowly in respect, " Thank you, Commander." The silky tone of his voice made the young girl's heart beat heavily and she could see the irritated look on Zuko's face. This was not going well at all.

" Now, me and these two fine men have some important things to discuss outside your presence." Zhao said as he pulled out his chair. He sat down in it and scooted in. " I unfortunately must ask you to leave."

Without any word, Katara got up from the table and left the men behind. Once she got outside of the tent, she exhaled as if she was holding her breath in that entire time. She brought a hand to her chest and held it there as she breathed slowly, in and out, in and out… trying to regain her composure. To call her tensed nerves. It felt as if she was under a microscope, being observed. She was remembering why she was afraid of him… He always seemed like he was smothering her.

Katara quickly made her way to the officer's commons. The farther she got away from Zhao, the better.

" A Fire Nation uniform suits her well, General. I'm impressed." Zhao reached for the pot of tea and an empty cup. He poured himself a cup and placed the teapot back gently. " And granted from your… Earth Kingdom encounter… I'm sure she's a skilled fighter, yes?"

" An excellent fighter!" Iroh praised. " One of the best on the ship. She and my nephew spar frequently and sometimes she comes out victorious."

" Ah, is that so." A small smirk appeared on Zhao's face as he looked over at the angered Prince. " Losing to a waterbender must mean that the Prince has much to… master. Then again, she's as gifted as your sister so maybe that would explain why you'd lose."

" You take that ba—!"

" So, Commander Zhao, what have you been doing these past few years?" Iroh said, cutting off his nephew. Zuko grunted in frustration and looked away crossing his arms. Zhao chuckled and sipped from his tea.

" We're planning on finishing what you had started, General. To take over of Ba Sing Sei. Once we take down the Earth Kingdom capitol, we will win this war. There would be no other opposition."

" Except there's the Nothern Water Tribe."

" Of course, General, but that's why we have your little page." Zuko raised an eyebrow. This was something he never heard of before. Why did Zhao bring her up?

" I'm afraid at this moment that's not possible."

" But, General, you don't understand. She's mine… When that day comes, I will take her back."

" Commander Zhao, with all due respect, she is my page and a valuable member of our ship. I won't let you take her away."

" Your silly goose hunt for the Avatar is _your_ mission," Zhao said coolly as he looked at Iroh. The old general's gentle relaxed face had been replaced with a serious one and the commander mentally chuckled at the fact that he had struck a nerve. " The fall of the Nothern Water tribe is _mine_ and so is she." Zhao finished his tea and placed the cup down gently on the table. "Now! How did that damage happen to your ship!"

" As we said, we ran into a Earth Kingdom ship." Zuko said flatly. Zhao chuckled.

" Really then… And how's your hunt for the Avatar?"

" We haven't found him yet." Zuko slightly smirked. " It's like you said, it's a silly goose chase."

" Well, Prince," Zhao stood up and made his way around the table to Zuko. " If you have any sense of loyalty… You should tell me."

" We're leaving. _Now_." Zuko stood up and walked to the entrance of the tent. " Uncle, come." Iroh stood up. Before Zuko managed to leave the tent, one of Zhao's officers stepped in.

" We asked the crew about the Avatar and they said that Prince Zuko did have him onboard." The man said. The two guards blocked the exit from Zuko with their lances and the young man growled in frustration. He thought he ordered them not to say anything! " They also told me that the Prince let him escape."

Zhao chuckled as he approached the Prince, " Now, tell me on how exactly did your ship get damaged and how that waterbender got that cut?"

" I'm not telling you a thing…" Zuko spat as he clenched his hands into fists.

" Well, if that is the case, I have no choice but to hold you here while I prepare my ship for departure."

" Departure for _what_?"

" For the Avatar, of course." The officer that had reported the information to him grabbed Zuko by the arm and pulled him away from the exit. He forced him back in his seat. " There's tea here as you wait."

" Zhao!"

" Oh, and I'll make sure to let your page know that from today on she'll be a member of _my_ crew."

" You wouldn't dare…"

" Oh, trust me, Prince Zuko. I would and I am. We'll let you go once preparations are complete."

**ooo**

They arrived at the Southern Air Temple safely and in one piece. While Aang was excited and rambled on about how wonderful the temples were-about their beauty and the grace of the people—Sokka knew that it would be anything but what the young airbender was lamenting on. He followed behind him silently, his mind grinding on about telling the boy his people were killed a hundred years ago or going with the charade and having him find out the hard way.

" And this here is the man who taught me everything I know, Monk Gyatso!" Aang said proudly as the two approached a weather beaten and snow covered statue of the old monk. Sokka nodded with a smile at the young airbender. Aang looked at the statue for a moment and then paid his respects to it by bowing.

" He must have been a great man to have a statue made after him."

Aang smile at the statue, " He was a great man." The young boy turned around and grabbed Sokka by his arm. " Come on, I have to show you to the rest of the monks."

" … Aang, about that…" Sokka licked his dry lips as he tried to think of an explination. " Aang… the…" The boy looked at Sokka with a raised eyebrow and a curious expression.

" What is it, Sokka?"

" Aang," Sokka pulled his arm away. " I think that things aren't going to be the same like it was a hundred or so years ago."

" I know."

Sokka wanted to grab the young boy and drag him back to Appa so that they could just head straight to the Water Tribe. But, despite his desires, he reluctantly followed Aang into the monastery – his heart heavy with dread when the young boy discovers that his people were no more.

As they made their way through the temple, it was hard not to notice how bare and empty the place had become. Weeds had taken over the gardens and the buildings. The walls were cracked, the painted murals were faded and chipped, and there seemed not to be a single sound of life anywhere. Against the optimistic chatter of Aang, it was a painful reminder that this temple was now dead and the people were no more. But, he continued to listen to the airbender and encouraged the boy to keep talking because it kept his attentions away from the various, yet vague, signs that the Fire Nation had been there – and killed his people.

It scared Sokka, though. While the airbenders had something left behind, his people had nothing. What if the Fire Nation successfully eradicated his tribe? There would be nothing left; nothing but a barren landscape of a snow and ice, any remnants of the tribe buried under the snow. They would literally cease to exist; a thought that made the young man's heart race a bit faster.

" Aang, where are we?"

" We're going to the Avatar Sanctuary," Aang said casually as the two walked down a cold, dimly lit, corridor. " I was told to go there to speak to someone. Maybe he'll have the answers."

" You believe there could be someone locked up in there?"

" I wouldn't doubt it." They stopped in front of a large locked door covered with tubes. " Besides, that person can help me understand this Avatar business. He's just on the other side of these doors."

" But these doors are locked."

" Not with airbending!"

He inhaled deeply and then released a large gust of wind into the open ends of the pipes. Sokka watched in awe as the locks changed. Each one was a different pitch than the other as they turned around with a click signaling the door was unlocking. The large doors opened up revealing a darkened room inside. A gust of old air blew out and Sokka shivered.

" Aang… are you sure there's someone in there?" He cautiously asked. Aang shrugged.

" They told me he'd be in here."

" That was over a hundre—"

" Yes, yes I know." Aang said, cutting off the teenager. " I have a feeling he's in there. I know he's in there. You can wait out here or come inside."

Aang disappeared into the darkness while Sokka stood in his spot contemplating what to do next. Not comfortable with standing out in the cold by himself, let alone letting the last hope for humanity into a dark room without supervision, Sokka groaned in frustration and followed the airbender into the dark room. If there were someone in there, he'd want to see them; especially if they managed to live for over a hundred years.

**ooo**

" Ah, Katara, there you are."

Zhao's unusually cheerful voice caught Katara's attention. She turned around from where she sat and stood up. The waterbender was watching the setting sun from the docks as she waited for Zuko and Iroh to return from their 'meeting' with the commander. Katara knew that the meeting was taking longer than usual but decided to ask him about it; it wasn't her place. Instead, she gave him a bow of respect and fained a smile.

" Commander Zhao, thank you for your hospitality." She said.

" It's only my duty to serve the Prince and the General. That is all." Katara nodded at his reply and he reached inside his armor and pulled out a blue choker with a sapphire stone hanging from it. " But, I just wanted to give this gift to you."

Katara blinked," U-um, C-comander Zhao… Thank you for your kindness but this is—"

" Your coming of age was this year, wasn't it? This is merely a gift to honor it. Even… if it is a bit late." He took her hand into his and placed the jewelry gently on her palm. " It's a piece from the Water Tribe."

" Really?" Katara brought the choker closer to her face so she could better inspect it. The stone was carved, a bit crudely, but still with skill. It looked old and the fabric that made up the choker was worn but there was something about it that had appealed to the young woman. " It's so beautiful."

" A beautiful piece of jewelry for a talented water bender." Zhao smiled, though it was filled with anything but sincerity. Katara looked up at him and quickly bowed in appreciation.

" Thank you, Commander Zhao."

" Page, treasure that. You might need to use it one day…. Well, now, I must be on my way to finish the preparing for my trip."

He left her behind with the choker in her hand. Katara watched his figure disappear back into the base and focused on the jewelry again. It was strange, it was different, and for some reason she felt like she had a piece of her self returned to her. Something so blue, so deep like the ocean…. The waterbender tucked the choker into the sleeve of her uniform and sat back down on the barrel.

Home… she couldn't wait until she was finally there.

**ooo**

A room of statues. That's what they had walked into. Sokka had expected to find a room full of signs of life, maybe not much on the life, but still a room that looked like it could harbor someone inside for a hundred years. Instead, there was just a large, dark, room filled with statues of people. He watched Aang as he weaved through the precisely placed statues to see if the young boy had any idea of what was going on.

From the equally lost look on the boy's face, Sokka had a feeling that Aang didn't have the slightest idea on what to do next. Sighing in defeat, he quickened his pace to join the airbender's side.

" I don't think he's here, Aang. I don't even think there was a single person here." Sokka said.

" I know… But, I don't ever think _they_ were physically here." Aang said as he walked past each statue, looking at them as if searching for something, and moving on when he didn't receive it.

" What do you mean then?"

" I think… these statues are who I was supposed to meet." They reached the last statue in the curled arrangement and he looked up at the statue of an old firebender. " They're all Avatars, previous incarnations of myself… and this is Avatar Roku, my past life."

" And you know this how…?" The skepticism in the teenager's voice did not sway the young airbender. How did the kid know all of this when there wasn't even a name engraved on these statues? All this magic spiritual stuff was becoming more and more of a headache to the young Chief; maybe if he were a bender he'd understand it more.

" I just know." Aang glanced down the line of statues briefly. " They're aligned in the cycle. Air, Water, Earth, and Fire." He looked up at Avatar Roku's statue. " Maybe the answers are here."

" Wait, don't tell me the person you had to talk to was this statue." Sokka said as he pointed to the aged statue of the old Avatar. Aang gave Sokka an annoyed look and the older boy simply sighed in defeat. " Never mind. You go do your Avatar thing with these…." He pointed around him at the statues as he tried to find the word. It was hard to make sense of a lot of things when you're traveling on a flying bison with a hundred and fourteen year old kid. " These… statues!" He paused to collect himself. " I'll wait outside."

" Alright! This shouldn't take long." Aang said casually, the usual pep back in his voice, and cracked his knuckles for emphasis. Sokka rolled his eyes, having enough of the Avatar's childish antics for the moment, and turned around to look for the entrance that they came from.

Which he did find, of course. Except, there was one little thing that was different. A shadow was now coming from that exit, and not just any shadow – a shadow belonging to some big large creature - at least in the mind of the Water Tribe chief. The Air Temple was home to huge flying monstrosities, who knew what else was lurking within the shadows of a desolate temple.

The shadow was inching closer and Sokka tried to get Aang's attention by whispering his name. That didn't work. Sokka glanced over at the monk, noticed him meditating, or at least attempting to, and tried to get his attention by slightly poking him. Eventually the poking evolved in to pushing and the whispering turned into yelling.

" Aang! There's this thing coming at us!" Sokka finally said. " Do one of your Avatar magic spells to make it go away!"

" Make _what_ go away?" Aang asked in frustration, finally annoyed that Sokka had broke his concentration. He actually was starting to feel a connection to the Spirit World and lost it. " I can't really do my Avatar _magic spells_ if you're going to keep interrupt—_LEMUR!_"

" Lewhat?"

One minute the kid was serious, explaining how he needed to concentrate, and the next he was bolting out of the temple chasing some bat-rat-bird thing that wasn't the monster Sokka had mistaken it to be. If there was two things Sokka had gained from that scenario, one of them would be Aang had a short attention span and that their meal was now running away and he was _very_ hungry.

He chased after Aang as quickly as he could. While he had food in mind for the animal, he knew Aang wanted to make it his next pet. Quite frankly, he didn't want to have the next meal hanging around them as their resident pet. So, it became a race to catch the _lemur_ first. Sokka always a step behind the more nimble and faster airbender while the creature chirped and chattered in fear as it ran as fast as it could.

The lemur rounded a corner, the two of them long gone from the largely unaffected Avatar Sanctuary, and ran straight into a small weather beaten and abandoned hut outside the temple. Without much thought, Aang followed right in but Sokka had stopped running and instead looked at the partially destroyed building with caution. There was something that was off about it and he knew in his gut that it wasn't anything good.

" Hey, little guy, I just want to say hello!" Aang said as he made his way through the place, pushing curtains aside as he got deeper and deeper into the hut. He received a chirp in reply. " Where are you? I can't see you!" Another faint chirp.

Aang pushed aside the final curtain and gasped at what he saw. It couldn't be; there was no way. _No way_. Yet, covered in snow, was a skeleton in tattered robes wearing a necklace…. A necklace that only one person he knew wore. Aang looked around him and finally took it all in. The walls were scorched, the curtains were burned, the pottery was broken, vegetation was growing through the cracks of the home, and rusted Fire Nation weaponry was scattered around.

" Oh… no…" was the defeated words Sokka said as he stepped in room. He saw the boy hunched over, trembling and sniffling. This was not how he wanted him to find out. " Aang… Listen—"

There was nothing to listen to. The next thing that happened was a large burst of blue light and a gust of wind knocking Sokka out of the building and into the patch of snow outside. The hut's roof exploded and Aang, now an enraged Avatar, emerged from the top. It was just as it was back on the ship; white eyes and arrows, an emotionless face, and hunched over like a possessed demon.

The innocent face of a child airbender was replaced by the rage filled vengeance of an Avatar.

Sokka was scared.

**ooo**

" My search party is prepared and ready to depart. Once we leave, I'll have my men escort you back to your ship and let you go on your way."

Zuko scoffed at the commander, " And you're doing this why? Do you think that this is going to help you find the Avatar before me?"

" Of course," Zhao chuckled. " And separates that girl from you." Zuko's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. " Oh, please don't take this reassignment personal, Prince Zuko. After all, she's just a page. Unless…." Zhao eyed the Prince with mischievous eyes; soaking in the otherwise agitated body movements the young man was exhibiting. He turned his attentions to General Iroh and noticed an indifferent expression on the old man's face. Royal title or not, he still had the command.

" Unless _what_?" The Prince spat. He watched the Commander, having a feeling where he was going with the conversation. It was something that needed to be avoided; no one could know – at least not now. It was their little secret; too much was on the line for it to come out now. If he could play a strong front in front of Zhao then maybe he could throw him off the subject.

" Nothing, _Prince_ Zuko."

" Argh!" Zuko stood up abruptly in his chair, knocking it over in the process. Zhao looked unphased by the burst of anger. It almost looked as if he was laughing at him for doing so. "Do you honestly think this will make a different, Zhao? I will find the Avatar _before_ you and _defeat_ you in the process!"

" Really?"

" My father will welcome me back home and restore my place on the throne."

Zhao chuckled, " Do you honestly think that will happen? Your _own_ father banished you; what makes you think he'll accept you back home? You have the scar to prove it."

" _Maybe you like one yourself_!"

" Are you threatening me?"

" Agni-kai! Here and now!" Zhao merely smirked.

" Fine, as you wish, _Prince_ Zuko." He turned around to leave. " It's a pitty your father won't be here to see me humiliate you. I guess your uncle will have to do." He left the angered Prince behind with his passive, yet concerned, Uncle.

" Prince Zuko, do you remember the last time you dueled a master?"

" Of course I do, Uncle." He clenched his hands into fists. " That will be a day I will _never_ forget."

Katara noticed the soldiers at the port were in an commotion; running around and speaking animatedly with each other about something that had happened a few moments ago. She had left the dock in search for Iroh, wanting answers and wondering what was taking them so long – but when she arrived at the tent, there was no one there.

" Where is Prince Iroh?" Katara asked a soldier who was standing guard at the tent's entrance. The young man looked at the waterbender and quirked up an eyebrow that was hidden by the helmet he wore.

" Preparing Prince Zuko for an agni-kai. Haven't you heard?"

" An _agni-kai_?" She blinked. " Wait, _an_ _agni-kai_?"

" You heard me right. Wish I could go and watch it happen bu—"

" Against who?" Katara asked frantically, cutting off the otherwise casual soldier. He blinked at her sudden change of attitude.

" Commander Zhao?"

" Oh Agni…" She grabbed onto the soldier's arms. " Where is the agni-kai grounds?"

" East of here, beyond the mess hall." He said, startled by the young woman as he pointed eastward.

She quickly ran in that direction to the agni-kai grounds. Her mind was running amuck with the memories of that fateful agni-kai, the one that had landed them in the situation they were in today. That scream – that blood curdling scream – resounded in her mind with each step she took. The look on Azula and Zhao's face was something she would never forget… and now he was to face one of them in an agni-kai…

Was he crazy? _Why?_

Katara arrived at the grounds and quickly spotted Iroh who stood to the side observing the soon to be match. The young page quickly made her way over to Iroh, " W-what's going on?" She asked Iroh between gasps of air, hunched over with her hands on her knees, trying to recover from running. He glanced at her briefly and put his attentions back at the agni-kai that was soon to be.

" Prince Zuko challenged Commander Zhao to an agni-kai." He said matter-of-fact. " You know the rules of agni-kai, Katara."

" But… But, Commander Zhao is a master firebender!" She implored.

" The challenge was made, all we can do is watch." Iroh sighed. " I told Zuko what he needed to do… Its now up to him to use it."

" Prince Iroh, with all due respect," Katara stumbled, her heart raced, and it was hard to keep impersonal while speaking to the man who raised her. " He could possibly _die_ out there."

" Katara, one mistake you must _never_ make on the battlefield is the one you're making now." Iroh said firmly as he looked at his page, gold eyes strong and face stoic and firm.

" What am I doing wrong?"

" You're letting your personal feelings cloud your better judgment and _that_ in itself will kill you."

The words cut through her like the very swords Zuko practiced with at night. She had let her emotions get the best of her, endangering her position within the royal court, and their relationship. Not only that, he was right – if there was a decision that needed to be made – whatever connection they shared couldn't affect their decisions. She had to learn how to let go.

The sound of flames ripping through the air brought her attention back to the duel. The first strike was made and all she could do was watch.

**ooo**

Sokka felt like he was going to be blown off the temple due to the onslaught of gusty winds from the emotionally distressed Avatar in front of him. The first time he ever saw the boy in this state, it was because he nearly _died_ and had managed to get out of it without anyone interfering – so, Sokka didn't know how to bring 'Aang' back to the human world; but, if he didn't do something he was going to get knocked off of the mountain top temple and never make it back alive.

With his arms shelding the wind away from his face, Sokka attempted to stand up against the gusts of wind, and take a step slow forward. Then soon followed another until he felt somewhat comfortable fighting the wind to get the Avatar.

" I don't know if you can hear me, Aang!" Sokka yelled despite not being able to barely hear himself above the loud whistles and howls of the wind. He continued to inch himelf closer. " But, I know how you feel! I understand your pain! Remember when I told you about my family? How I lost my mother and sister? It hurt! It really did hurt but I managed to slowly move on! That's what you have to do, Aang!"

He grabbed the Avatar's wrist and pulled the boy around to face him. White glowing eyes, bright white tattoos, a face in pure rage – it looked like the young man was staring into the face of a devil. Swallowing whatever apprehension and fear in his system, Sokka continued his attempt in trying to get across and reach the young boy within the Avatar.

" Aang, listen to me," He said as calmly as he could. " It will always hurt and I am not denying that it won't, even I hurt till this day, but it's apart of life. This is life, Aang. You have to face it." A tear fell from the Avatar's eye and Sokka sighed in relief. He was finally getting across to him. " I'm here now, Aang. I'll be your friend. You're not alone."

The wind calmed as quickly as it had raged across and the Avatar had became the young boy again. Sokka sighed in relief and let go of Aang's wrist as the boy blinked to regain his surroundings. He looked up at Sokka and the young chief looked down at Aang. Soon, large round eyes started tearing up and Aang wrapped his arms around Sokka's waist, burying his face in the boy's weather beaten parka and weeping aloud.

Sokka blinked and hesitated on what to do next. He never was in a situation like this before and didn't know what to do exactly. Slowly, he brought his arm to Aang and softly patted the boy on the back as a sign of condolence.

" There, there…" He whispered with a sigh.

This was the last hope for the world and he was comforting it. It was peculiar, but, it was meant to be if he ever wanted to see his sister again. A sporadic chirping sound took Sokka out of his thoughts and he stopped patting the airbender on the back to look behind him where the noise was coming from. He looked down to see that thing—lemur – sitting on the ground with some fruits in front of it. Aang pulled away from Sokka and wiped his face clean of tears and snot.

" Aang, your flying thing gave us some presents." Sokka said with a chuckle. Aang looked over and grinned.

" Lemur!" He said happily. " Thank you!" The flying lemur chirped in response and jumped over to Aang, sitting on the boy's shoulders. " I think I'm going to call you Momo." Aang said, tapping it on the nose gently. Momo chirped again and Aang chuckled.

" Let's head back to Appa. We have a long ways to the Nothern Water Tribe." Sokka said as he picked up the fruits off of the floor. He plopped a berry in his mouth and sighed in content. Food was nice. Really, _really_, nice.

" I think I'm gonna like you flying lemur bat thing."

**ooo**

Zhao was an aggressive fighter. That was the first thing Katara had noticed as she watched the battle between the two firebenders at Iroh's side. There was no ease or grace to his firebending; all of it was pure strength and anger. He was constantly on the offense while Zuko was on the defense. A tirade of heat and flames, one blast after another, leaving the Prince little room to make a move. It was hard for the waterbender to watch with the fear of what could happen looming in the back of her mind.

Zuko fell onto his back from losing balance as he tried to block Zhao's aggressive onslaught of flames in his direction. The duel had been brutal up till this point, Zhao relentless in trying to make an example of the banished prince. He was quick on feet and strong enough to keep Zuko from landing a successful hit on him, and while this fight was taking place Katara and Iroh watched from the corner sidelines with mixed emotions of worry and support.

Katara wanted Zuko to come out of this duel safely. She didn't want him to be severely hurt again or possibly dead. They still had a mission to finish, an Avatar to find. They needed to make it back home safely – Zuko couldn't lose to this man. He had to show him that he just wasn't the timid Prince from the Fire Nation. She chewed on her lower lip as she watched, mentally praying to the gods for Zuko to get up and fight back.

_Get up… Get up… Get up…!_

Zhao had jumped across to where Zuko laid, preparing himself to make the final blow.

" _Get up, damnit_!" She yells at the top of her lungs. Iroh quickly looks at his page in mild shock, and as if it was a trigger, Zuko quickly swung his legs out in front of him and kicked Zhao's feet from beneath him.

The commander fell onto his back and quickly got back on his feet, but not in enough time to steady himself from the prince's onslaught of flames that he kicked out in succession. With each step forward Zuko made, a flame followed, making Zhao stumble backwards. Iroh smirked in approval at his nephew and Katara sighed in relief.

Zhao fell backwards on his back and Zuko made one final blow, sending a blast of fire that barely missed the man's head. Zhao blinked, shocked and confused at the exiled prince's display of mercy. He propped himself up on his elbows and frowned as Zuko stood over him with a look of indifference. How dare he look at him that way!

" Is that all? _Finish it_!"

" I won't this time. This is just a warning." Zuko relaxed his body. " Next time, there won't be any mercy."

Zuko turned his back on Zhao and walked away to where Iroh and Katara stood waiting. Zhao gritted his teeth in anger. Publically humiliated by a banished prince… Shown _mercy_ by an dishonored prince… _Defeated_ by an exiled prince. He glanced over at the former General and his page… A prince that soiled the family honor with a barbaric peasant. No – he was not going to be humiliated like this. He wasn't going to loose like this!

Zhao jumped to his feet and leaped forward for an attack. Katara eyes went wide, knowing exactly that Zhao was going to attack Zuko from behind, but before she could move to defend the Prince, Iroh had already leaped forward and blocked Zhao's attack. She blinked at the general's speed and how he easily he pushed Zhao away. Zuko turned around and gaped; Zhao had tried to attack him from behind his back.

" To attack someone from behind their back instead of accepting defeat," Iroh chastised. " Is low, but even more dishonorable coming from a high ranking commander as yourself, Zhao." Zhao didn't say anything but merely glare at the two royal princes. " My nephew is more honorable than you'll ever be. Thanks for the tea, it was absolutely delicious."

The two made their way off of the duel grounds and Katara quickly joined their side once they met up. She glanced up at Zuko and cleared her throat.

" Good job," She said flatly, trying to cover up any emotions that wanted to boil over at that very moment. " You fought well."

" Thank you." He looked at his Uncle. " Did you mean that? What you said back there?"

" Of course, Prince Zuko." He grinned. " Ginseng tea is my favorite, afterall."

" What was that all about anyway?" Katara asked.

" Nothing important," He licked his lower lip. " Nothing that you should be concerned about." The waterbender frowned and he mentally sighed. _The longer I can keep you from finding out, the better._ _It's better you don't know_. " Lets go back. Tell the men to get ready. We're setting sail as soon as a possible, Uncle. "

Iroh merely chuckled as they walked back to the ship.

**ooo**

Once on board, Katara retired to her cabin and sat down on her bed. She reached into the sleeve of her uniform and pulled out the choker that Commander Zhao had given her. She stared at it, running her fingers along the old blue silk and carved blue stone. There was something familiar about this piece of jewelry that was a lost to her… Like she had seen it before, somewhere, on someone. So, she continued to look at it, mesmerized by the intricate details of the pendant and colors of the stone.

It was beautiful… It really was beautiful.

* * *

_Is Katara finally remembering something about her past? Will Zhao get his hands on Katara? How long can Zuko keep the truth from her? And will Sokka ever reunite with his sister? Ahahaha, who knows. _

_Sorry, this chapter was harder than the last chapter to write. Took about a month and a half to write out... its getting harder and harder to push out these chapters. I have everything mapped out, even the ending, its just filling in all the minor details. Also, since I started this tale two and a half years ago, I am realizing I have a lot of plotholes and stuff I really need to fix... so be prepared for a major rewrite soon. _

_The biggest question/concern I've been getting from you readers is the ages, so let me clarify: Katara is two years younger than Zuko, but due to confusion in the Fire Nation, she's assumed to be three years younger. So, while Zuko is 18, Katara is actually 16. The Fire Nation found her before her 4th birthday, in the Fall, so that's why. Hope that clears up all that confusion about her age. I tried to clear it up in the birthday chappy but I guess I didn't do so well._

_As always, I always love to hear your opinions and reactions to this story - so don't hesitate to drop a 'review'. lol_

_PS: That last airbender movie was horrible~ omg. And its Zutara week, cause everywhere I turn is Zutara week fanfics. Unfortunately, I don't participate in it. Though, love to read all the fics that come out. Keep them rolling~ Keep the ideas flowin~  
_


	18. Kyoshi

**Where Loyalties Lie  
**_Chapter Eighteen  
Kyoshi_

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. This is purely fan created.

_

* * *

_

" I'm assuming she doesn't know."

Iroh looks at his nephew from across the dinner table with his chopsticks in his hand, rice threatening to fall off, and raises a bushy eyebrow. Zuko frowns back and places his chopsticks gently on the table next to his bowl of rice.

" Again, I am assuming she does not know."

" Does not know what, Prince Zuko?" He plops the rice in his mouth as Zuko's eyebrow twitches in annoyance.

" Zhao, Uncle. Zhao… What is actually going on here with her and that man?" Zuko closes his eyes. " What does this have to do with you?"

" Nothing that you should concern yourself with, Prince Zuko. As you can see, we've already handled the situation two days ago."

" This is Commander Zhao we're talking about, Uncle. I doubt an Agni-kai would suede him from any of his conquests. Now, again, I'm trying not to loose my temper here but you're pushing me to that point. Why is Zhao interested in Katara? How _exactly_ did she get here?"

" I can see why you didn't want her to join us for dinner tonight." Iroh remarked as he placed his chopsticks down. He sighs and clears his throat. " She's a tool for the Fire Lord and Commander Zhao's conquest of the Nothern Water Tribe."

Zuko blinked, " What?"

" Twelve years ago, we raided the Southern Water Tribe for any remaining waterbenders. Zhao, who was a young lieutenant at the time, figured out that since she was the daughter of the Chief's and his waterbending wife, she'd be a gifted waterbender and took her with plans of using her against the Northern Water Tribe when she was of age."

" She's the daughter of a chief?" Zuko's good eye went wide, finally realizing something. " That means that boy back at that village..."

" … Could possibly be her brother." Iroh stroked his beard in thought. " But I'm not entirely sure, since I'm not familiar on Water Tribe politics."

" Does she even know? How she got here? The reason she's here?"

Iroh shook his head, " No. As far she knows, she was sent here and became my page."

" I can't believe she fell for that lie." He scoffed.

" You grew up with her," Iroh reminded. " You'd know her better than anyone else. She was _three_ when all of this happened. She doesn't know her culture, her customs, her people… All she knows is the Fire Nation. All she knows is us…" A quick pause. " …. You."

Zuko sighed, " How long can we keep this illusion up." _How long can I protect her?_

" As long as you can, Prince Zuko. We all control our own destiny. If you want to keep her out of Zhao's hands, then you must do whatever you can do."

The conversation between them had died as quickly as it started. Zuko stared at his plate of food, now cold, deep in thought. It was as if everything was falling on top of him at once; first the Avatar and now Katara. How long could he keep up this charade, how long could he keep her away from Zhao? Did he even have the power to? He was a banished prince… he had no authority beyond that of his ship. Marked and ridiculed – how could that protect her? And even if he managed to keep her away from Zhao, what would she do if she ever found out the truth? What would happen to _them_?

" You speak of destiny, Uncle." Zuko began quietly. " But, in the end, she's left with nothing."

" What do you mean?"

" No matter what we do, she has no control of her destiny." Zuko stood up and made his way towards the closed door of their private dinning room. Iroh looked at his nephew from the corner of his eye. Zuko placed his hand on the hatch and stood there, knowing his uncle had more to say to him. It was like instinct to the boy.

" When the time comes, she will choose. No one can stop anyone from choosing their own destiny."

Zuko didn't respond and left the room.

**ooo**

Sokka glared at the map in his hands. If he glared at it, maybe it would finally tell them were they were at. Yet, no matter how much he glared at the parchment, it never told him where they were. Growling in frustration, he rolled the map back up and looked over the saddle to be faced with more blue ocean waters.

" It's been one week and we're not even close to this Kyoshi Island of yours!" Sokka yelled in frustration. Aang chuckled, clearly not affected by the teenager's attitude.

" I know where we're at! We're close!"

" You said that yesterday! And the day before yesterday! _And the day before that day_!"

" Trust me, Sokka. We're almost there."

" We should be heading to the Nothern Water Tribe and finding you a master as soon as possible then flying around blindly for some fun." Sokka grumbled as he crossed his arms, sinking deeper into saddle. Aang glanced at his traveling partner from over his shoulder and chuckled at the pouting face the chieftain was showing. Despite the situation the world was in and all the responsibility the young man had, at the end of the day he was still a teenage boy.

" We will get there, Sokka. But first, I gotta show you these elephant koi!"

" Aang, at this rate, we won't get there until spriiin-_aaahhh_!"

The bison did a quick dive unknowingly to Sokka, cutting him off with Aang laughing in the background. It felt like his stomach had flipped inside of him and his heart drop. He held onto the sides of the saddle for dear life as Appa continued its dive towards La knew where. Suddenly, Appa stopped and gently landed on the ground. Sokka collasped forward and put both of his hands over his chest, breathing heavily. He was sure he was sweating too.

" We're here! Kyoshi Island!" Aang announced like he was a tourist driver. Sokka looked up at him from his hunched over position and glared.

" I hate you and your magic flying thing."

" Appa loves you too, right Appa?" The beast replied with a loud groan and the airbender laughed. " See? Come on, let me show you the elephant koi!" Before Sokka could get a word in, Aang jumped off of Appa and floated down to the cold, sandy, bottom below.

Sokka slowly got up and climbed off of Appa. He dropped down to the sandy bottom bellow and stumbled backwards, falling on his backside. He was still disoriented from the crazy landing the airbender had put him threw and he grumbled in annoyance as he stood up. Sokka turned around and watched as the boy hastily took off his clothes, leaving nothing but his undergarments on.

" Aang! Its freezing out here, are you trying to purposely get sick?"

" Just watch me, Sokka! You gotta see this!" Aang yelled as he ran into the water. " C-C-Cold!"

" I swear, you're a crazy kid, you know that?"

It was true. It was still the middle of winter, there was still snow upon snow caked over the landscape, and it had to been near close to freezing! So, unless sleeping in an iceberg for a hundred years made him immune to the cold, airbenders were officially a crazy race of people to Sokka.

He watched, unimpressed, as the boy swam into the deeper waters of the lagoon. Here they were, yet again, wasting time when they had to hurry to the Nothern Water Tribe safely before the Fire Nation caught up with them. It wasn't as if Aang didn't known they had an entire army after him to capture and bring back to the Fire Nation. It wasn't as if the boy didn't know that his entire people were eradicated by said nation – so why was he wasting time playing games?

Sokka was too caught up in his own thoughts that he missed when Aang managed to jump on the back of one of the elephant koi and ride the fish in the lagoon. His cries for attention were also going on deaf ears as well. Aang sighed in defeat as his continued to ride the elephant koi, deciding to have fun with it rather than try and impress Sokka. Eventually, something in the water coming close behind Aang and his koi fish soon caught the chieftain's attention.

" Aang!" Sokka yelled. " There's something in the water, get out!"

" There's something what?"

" Something in the—oh my god that thing is huge."

A large, black, fin emerged from the water and the fish that Aang was riding on soon bucked and sent the boy flying over the fin and splashing on the other side. The elephant koi dived back into the water and scurried away. Aang emerged from the cold, salty, water and turned around to be at an uncomfortable distance with the fin of a sea monster. With a shriek, Aang bolted out of the water, and the sea monster chased after him.

" Faster, Aang! Faster!" Sokka called out. " Faste-_oof_!"

Aang ran right into Sokka, colliding and sending the two spiraling backwards against a mound of snow that was a distance away from the sandy lagoon beach. Aang untangled himself from Sokka and sighed in relief as the teenager winced in pain. Sokka stood up and rubbed his lower back as the airbender put his clothes back on.

" Alright, Aang, enough of these games. We have to leave now. No more crazy sea monster riding. No more pit stops. No more anything. Just straight flying. Okay?"

" Okay, Sokka." Aang said dejectedly, as if his father was scolding him. " I won't make anymore pit stops."

" Good, now lets get back on App-_augh_!"

A hand cut off Sokka over his mouth and his hands being pulled behind his back. He didn't even get a good look at the person assaulting him, just a blur of green, white, and gold before a blindfold was tied over his eyes. Aang didn't have the opportunity to defend, and he too was tied up and blind folded before being shoved to the ground with Sokka.

" I guess I don't get to finish what I say today, hun?" Sokka grumbled sarcastically.

" Sorry, Sokka."

" Whatever."

**ooo**

" It seems as if the Avatar is a master of evasive maneuvering." Zuko remarked as he looked at the map in his hands. It was covered in scattered markings of reported sighting of the bald monk and his traveling companion – her _brother_. He slightly frowned at the thought. More problems that he didn't already need.

" It looks like he's a master at being lost." Katara remarked lightly with a snicker from behind the prince. She was looking at the map from over his shoulder and he groaned in frustration, shooing her away from him with his hand. She snickered and crossed her arms over her chest. " With how erratic his movements have been, a blind hogmonkey could tell that the Avatar and his companion are lost."

" I don't think you're funny."

" I'm not trying to be funny. I'm just stating the obvious." She sighed. " You need to relax more and clear your mind if you ever want to catch that kid."

" I _am_ relaxed and my mind _is_ clear." He turned around and walked back to his shrine. With one swift movement, he knelt down in front of it and closed his eyes. Katara, on the other hand, rolled hers.

" Yeah, and when I told you we didn't know where he was you decided to make your candles spontaneously combust." Zuko's eyebrow twitched at her comment and she leaned against the cool iron wall. " If the gods want us to find him, they will lead us to him. There's no use trying to fight destiny."

" Destiny," Zuko scoffed. " Is nothing more than a joke."

" Here comes the cynicism." Katara remarked sarcastically. " If you're going to be in a sour mood, I'll just leave."

" I'm not being a cynic. It's called being a realist."

" I liked you better when you were an optimist."

" I'm sorry I decided to grow up."

" Well, that's a pity that you're an asshole." She frowned. " A cynical asshole who broods and stays locked up in his room all day."

" Is that all you have for me today?" She could hear the straining in her voice and it just irritated her even more.

" No, I'll just leave and save myself the headache."

" Fine then."

" Fine!"

She quickly left his room and slammed the door behind her on the way out. He winced at the sound and sighed. Zuko pinched the bridge of his nose to fight off the oncoming headache. With all the revelations and how difficult the situation was getting, he never intended to be so uptight with Katara. Yet, for some reason, it was becoming easier and easier for the two to become irritated with each other.

There had to be a way around this situation. But each option he thought of always lead him towards a dead end. Destiny was definitely a bitch.

**ooo**

" Are you Fire Nation spy?"

" Do we look like we're from the Fire Nation?"

Sokka felt someone stomp on his foot and he yelped in pain. He assumed it was Aang from the way it happened and decided to shoot a glare in his direction, despite the fact that it was futile because they were booth blindfolded.

They were captured, tied to a pole, and currently being interrogated by - what Sokka assumed to be – the village leader. He did hear a woman, but he assumed she was his daughter.

" I think we should feed the sarcastic one to the Unagi." She said heatedly. " Then his bald friend."

" I demand to see who captured us!"

Quickly their blindfolds were removed and the two travelers were face to face with a group of female warriors and an old man. Sokka blinked, looked around the area as if the real group of _men_ had disappeared and slightly frowned when he didn't see any in sight. He looked back at the old man and the female who stood next to him.

" We captured you and we're about to feed you to the Unagi."

" You're a bunch of girls!"

" A bunch of girls that took you down!"

" There's no way!" Sokka scoffed. " Girls can't fight!"

" Um, excuse my friend, he's a bit backwards in his train of thought." Aang said nervously.

" Backwards? Says the kid who was born a hundred years ago!"

" A hundred years ago?" The old man blinked in shock that was quickly replaced with a frown. " This is ridiculous. Send them both to the Unagi!"

" Wait! W-w-wait, he's actually the Avatar! I'm saying the truth. Really, I am."

" The Avatar is gone along with his people!"

" Do some airbending, Aang!" Sokka ordered desperately and on key, the boy bended himself up into the air and out of the rope that bound him to the pole. He floated gracefully onto the ground to the amazed gasps of the villagers. " See. Avatar in the flesh."

It was like the heavy atmosphere in that village had totally been lifted and was replaced with hope and cheer. Two of the female warriors released Sokka from the pole and undid the rope around Aang's wrists as the crowd cheered. One of the villagers pushed himself forward and went into a hysteria, foaming at the mouth and then fainting. Sokka and Aang made a face at the sight and quickly brought their attention back to the village leader and decorated female warrior.

" Avatar at your service." Aang said with a bow. " Sorry about coming here unannounced. I kind of wanted to ride the elephant koi. Should have asked before hand."

" It's not a problem, Avatar."

" Forgive me, Avatar, for ambushing you like we did." The female said with a bow. " We, on Kyoshi, have been so far untouched from the war that we're on a constant alert to make sure no intruders trespass."

" No, its completely understandable…" Aang trailed, trying to figure out what to call the young woman.

" Suki. My name is Suki. I'm the leader of the warriors of this island."

" Wow! You definitely lead a group of strong women!"

Sokka merely grumbled in reply. Aang stepped on Sokka's foot again and he yelled out in pain, but the airbender merely dug his heel deeper into teenager's foot. Sokka silently bit back the pain and the urge to slap the airbender upside his baldhead.

" Thank you. It's an honor to receive such a compliment from the Avatar."

" No, thank you! I'm honored to have an island named after my… previous self!" Aang said as he looked at the weather beaten statue of the Avatar Kyoshi that stood upon the top of the pole. He had released his foot from Sokka's and the chieftain had to really fight back the urge of slapping him. He instead gave the cheesiest smile to the two village leaders.

" Yeah, really, it's great!"

They needed to be off this island. The sooner, the better.

**ooo**

" The Avatar is at Kyoshi Island?"

The dinner had been dreadfully silent until the one of the shipmates came in to report the news to the Prince. Katara ate her meal in absolute silence, clearly ignoring Zuko and paying attention only to Iroh and what little conversation the old general would bring up to kill the silence. And like the wise old man he was, Iroh could tell that there was something definitely going on between the two.

" Yes, we received word that the Avatar is at Kyoshi Island with his traveling companion and have been there for a day already."

" We've finally caught up with him…" Zuko said to himself. " Ready the rhinos and full speed to Kyoshi Island!"

" Yes, sir!"

The soldier left and Katara reached for her cup of tea. She took a loud, very unlady like, sip from it and placed it down on the table with a loud clink. Zuko's eyebrow twitched, again for the tenth time during their dinner, and he looked at her. She blinked innocently and then smirked. Iroh shook his head.

" There's a reason you were sent to the royal academy." Zuko said slowly, biting back his anger. She nodded.

" Of course." And grinned. " Doesn't mean I have to act by it."

" You're testing me, aren't you?"

" You've caught on. I knew you weren't dumb!"

" Argh! Nevermind!" Zuko grabbed his plate of food and stood up. Iroh looked up at his nephew.

" Are you going to share that?"

" No!" He stormed out of the dinning room leaving Iroh behind with his page. Katara sighed and leaned back in her chair across from Iroh. The general looked at his page with a blank, unreadable, expression.

" It's his fault." She began. " He's been the one uptight these last few days."

" Did you ever think about asking what's on his mind?"

" How can I? It's not like he'll tell me."

" You don't know unless you try. Don't sacrifice everything over a petty misunderstanding. At the end of the day, you need to depend on each other."

Katara sighed, " I know, Uncle." She chuckled and ran a hand through her thick brown hair. " I guess I shouldn't jump on him like I do?"

Iroh couldn't help but chuckle, " I guess you can say that."

**ooo**

This was what Sokka wanted to avoid. Everything was going wrong and whatever he said did not change the boy's mind. They were wasting time on this island and their cover was blown. Not only that, word had spread like wild fire and if they didn't leave this island in time the Fire Nation would be arriving at any moment. The crowd of screaming girls chasing after Aang sounded like a hammer against the teenager's skull and he growled in frustration, now shoving the vegetables in his basket instead of putting them with care.

" The more time we waste here the more danger we're in and what does this kid do? Act like a celebrity and grab whatever attention he can get." Sokka mumbled to himself as he snapped a green bean in his hand in half.

" Sounds like you're angry." A female said observantly. Sokka shoved a ear of corn in the basket.

" Of course I am!" He turned around and came face to face with that make up wearing fake warrior named Suki. Augh, if it wasn't one it was the other. " What do you want."

" Just wanted to let you know that some of the villagers finished giving your flying bison a bath and have helped in loading some of your supplies on."

" Thank you." Sokka mumbled.

" I don't understand why you're so afraid of a female in power, but I am going to assume that you had a bad run in with one or something." Suki took an apple in her hand and observed the fruit before putting it back down. Sokka rolled his eyes.

" In my village, women do not fight or lead because they _can't_."

" The Avatar told me you are the Chief of your village, is that correct?"

Sokka nodded, " Yes, I am."

" It's a pity that the people of your village have such a chauvinistic _pig_ for a leader that got taken down by a bunch of _girls_." She smirked. " I would imagine they would laugh you out of town if they heard."

" You take that back!"

" If you want to know how a real warrior acts come to our dojo and I'll show you."

" Fine. I'll show you where a woman is supposed to be at!"

" Right…" She chuckled as she walked away from Sokka, leaving the flustered teenager behind. Sokka grumbled and shoved more vegatables into his basket and the apple she had held in his mouth before stomping off back to the hut they were staying at.

If she wanted to be embarrassed, he was going to give it to her. No one was going to make a fool out him. No one! Especially a girl!

It wasn't too much later that Sokka had arrived at their dojo. Yeah, they had to leave Kyoshi and put a distance between themselves and the Fire Nation. But, this… _this_ was important. His manhood was at stake here – he had to prove something. He had to tell them that they were wrong and pretty much belong in the huts taking care of the kids and making the men dinner.

" Alright, what girl here needs to be made example of." Sokka said sarcastically, as he flexed his arm and worked out the kinks in his neck. " I mean, there has to be someone—Ah! H-hey!"

Suki had quickly made the attack, swiftly grabbing Sokka's arm and pulling it around him and pinning it behind his back. With her free hand, she undid his sash, pulled his other arm behind his back, and tied them together with the sash. She pushed him forward and he fell on his face, caught off balance.

" You were going to make an example out of who?" Suki said mockingly. She took out her fan, flicked it open, and began to fan herself as her and the rest of the warriors laughed in amusement.

Sokka felt his cheeks burn in embarrassment. He couldn't believe it – he was beaten by a girl, not once, but twice! In mid sentence no less! He closed his eyes and sighed in defeat.

" I-I'm sorry."

" What was that, I couldn't hear you?"

" I'm sorry. I shouldn't have underestimated you like I did."

" At least you have the manners of admitting when you're wrong." Suki approached Sokka and knelt down to release his bind. " It's a step."

Sokka rolled over and sat up. He hunched over and scratched the back of his neck.

" Would you… teach me your fighting method?"

Suki blinked, " We don't teach outsiders or males."

" It'd be an honor to learn…" He got on his knees and bowed. " Please."

Suki looked at her fellow team mates who were giggling and she sighed. She extended her hand out to Sokka.

" Fine. But, you must follow by our traditions and rules… and I mean _all_ of them." Sokka looked up and took her hand. She helped him up.

" Alright."

He wished that he known he'd have to wear their uniform before he agreed.

" Nice dress there, Sokka!" Aang yelled as he ran past the dojo, a screaming crowd of girls following behind.

Yes, he definitely wished he knew ahead of time.

" It's not a dress! _It's a warrior's uniform_!"

**ooo**

" Hey, wanna talk?"

" There's nothing to talk about."

Katara sighed and leaned against the iron railing of the ship. She looked out towards the water and horizon, occasionally pushing the strands of hair that whipped across her face away from the wind.

" We got to stop this bickering if we want to move on," She whispered. " Is there anything wrong? What's bothering you?"

" There's nothing wrong." Zuko said as he continued to look at the horizon. It was already frustrating enough knowing what he knew; it was harder trying to keep it from her. Why couldn't she just leave him alone so he could at least think it over? " Just stop asking."

" I know you, Zuko. I've known you all my life… I know what you do when something's bothering you. You hide away, lock everyone out, and try to take on the world on your own." She sighed.

" This is beyond you, Katara. This is my problem, not yours… " He said softly. It was the first time in a while that he had spoken to her with such warmth. " Just… Just let it be."

" I care for you," Katara whispered, enough so that he could hear. " Don't you forget that. I will always be there for you, no matter what."

Would she? He wondered how foolish this all was. He grew up with her, played with her, fought together with her, experienced so many life changing things with her… to find out that it was never meant to be in the first place. She was never his… She was Zhao's. His tool for his military glory… And if she found out the truth, would she still stay with him or revolt? Would she throw all of this away?

And then there was the situation with her brother. There was no doubt in his mind that the young chieftain knew Katara was his sister and there was no doubt that he would try to bring her back – brainwash her – into joining them. He had to protect her from them all… He had to keep her away from any influences that would break her down and twist the world she knew into lies and betrayal.

" I know you do. I know."

Far off into the distant horizon, the peaks of mountains could be seen. They were soon approaching Kyoshi Island and within a few hours their mission was soon to be over. Katara promptly left Zuko's side to get prepared and he gripped onto the cold iron railings. This time, failure was not going to be an option.

" Everyone prepare yourselves! We're about to land!"

**ooo**

" Aangy! We've been waiting here all day! When is the Unagi gonna show?" One of the girls asked with annoyance from the beach. The rest of the group vocally agreed and the young airbender, who was out in the middle of the lagoon, winced in response.

" It'll be here in a moment! Just wait a bit more!" He yelled back in a pleading hope that the group wouldn't go back to the village. The leader of the self proclaimed _Aangy Fanclub_ huffed impatiently and stomped her foot on the ground.

" We have to go back now! It's getting late and we're all getting hungry!"

" But-!"

" Sorry!"

His fanclub had quickly left the beach, mumbling to each other, as they disappeared into the forest that lead back to the village. Aang sighed as he floated in the lagoon. He was finally being able to have some fun instead of worrying about his responsibilities and a war he still didn't understand and it had to end because that stupid sea monster wasn't around. The girls were starting to get tired of all his airbending tricks and it was getting harder to keep their attention.

" Hey, kid!"

Aang looked up and saw Sokka on the beach waving for his attention. The airbender raised an eyebrow at the way Sokka was still dressed.

" Why are you still wearing that dress!" Aang called out. Sokka frowned and balled his hands into fists.

" It's not a dress!" He yelled, his voice slightly cracking. " It's a warriors uniform! _Uniform!_"

" Whatever you say!"

Sokka sighed in defeat and smiled, " Come on, get out of that water before you catch a cold! We gotta be heading out soon!"

" Alright!"

Aang began swimming towards the shore, oblivious of the dark shadow that was looming behind him. Sokka stretched as he waited for the boy to come to shore, thinking about everything that had transpired during the day. The lessons were coming along well, despite the fact that the other Kyoshi Warriors couldn't help but snicker at the sight of him in their uniform. He hadn't meant to keep it on as he went to get Aang, but he had to admit that uniform did feel _nice_ and he had a slightly higher confidence level which he did not want to admit.

He smirked at the thought, oblivious to the airbender walking past him to get his clothes.

" The makeup doesn't look bad on you either." Aang remarked playfully. The smirk was quickly replaced with a frown. Sokka turned around, pulled out a golden fan – the warrior's _weapon_ - and pointed it at the boy.

" It's a warrior's mask!"

" Whatever you say." Aang said, muffled as he pulled his yellow tunic over his head. " When do we need to leave?" He put his arms through the sleeves and pulled it down. He straightened some of the wrinkles out of it.

" Before dusk. The faster we leave this island the better chance we can avoid running into the Fire Nation."

" Alright. I'll get Appa ready."

" The supplies are already loaded."

Sokka turned around and watch the setting sun. It was different than the Southern Water Tribe. They always had to deal with the midnight sun during the winter season and in the summer time, rarely did the sun rise. Scenery like this was always a magnificent gift to the young water tribesman. He faintly heard Aang rustling behind him as the boy put his pants on as his attention focused on a black ship that emerged in the horizon.

Faster and faster it approached, closing the distance between itself and the island. Sokka gaped; he knew that ship from anywhere. It was _his_ ship… it was where she was. He turned around and grabbed Aang's hand, yanking the boy to him.

" W-what?" Aang asked, flustered. Sokka pointed behind him.

" Zuko's coming. Change of plans, we're leaving _now_."

Aang peered over Sokka's shoulders, " Gotcha. I'll let the village know."

" And I'll let the warriors know."

The two boys got one more look at the fast approaching ship before they ran back to the village.

**ooo**

Once the ship made landfall, it lowered its bowsprit and ramp onto the cold sandy beach to reveal a small calvary of groups of two riding on komodo rhinos. Zuko was in the center, Katara sitting behind him, as he observed the quiet beach. It was quiet, except for the sound of the cold air whistling by, and it looked like there were people on the beach prior to them arriving. He noticed the main trails that lead to the village.

" To the village. I want the Avatar alive."

The group moved cautiously up the trail. While the vegetation in the area wasn't as thick as it would have been in the spring and summer months, the chances of an attack were still high. If the villagers were hiding the Avatar, given the reputation of the island, Zuko wouldn't have doubted a sneak attack if they were caught.

When they reached the village, Zuko held his hand in the air and the group stopped in place and waited for their next orders. The firebender observed the village. There was no one out in the streets and all the buildings were closed. If the prince was naïve, he could have been easily tricked into believing it was a ghost town; but there was toys left behind, vegetable stands abandoned with fresh vegetables, and fresh animal and human tracks in the dirt. Oh, no, this island wasn't abandoned at all… They were hiding.

" I know you're hiding the Avatar!" Zuko called out. " Bring him to me!"

The sun was setting and it was getting colder with each passing minute. The Fire Nation soldiers sat and waited, their breaths visible against the cold Kyoshi air. Katara felt Zuko raise his body temperature in front of her. It was something that set them apart, as she started to notice. The cold temperatures weren't as much as an inconvenience to her than him. Zuko clicked his tongue in annoyance, taking the waterbender out of her thoughts. His eyes narrowed and grabbed the reins of his komodo rhino.

" Burn the village down and force the brat out." He said coolly. On order, the soldiers took off on their rhinos. The firebenders began to set some of the building on fire and as if on cue, the villagers began to run out of their hiding places. " I want him back here alive!"

Sokka peered from around the corner of one of the residential huts to get a good look of the situation. Like he suspected, she was with him. This was it – this was the opportunity he needed to save his sister and bring her back home. He quickly turned back behind the corner and knelt down in front of Aang and Suki. The two looked at Sokka with the need to know the situation clearly etched on their faces.

" There's five rhinos, two on each, ten all together." Sokka said. " Your warriors are in position, right?"

Suki nodded, " They're all in position and ready to move on my command."

" Aang, you need to get to Appa safely. Try to avoid getting in a conflict with them. The less damage we cause this village the better."

" Right… and… I'm sorry for bringing the Fire Nation here." Suki shook her head.

" It's not your fault. We're in a war… eventually our people was going to be affected by it."

He didn't say anything but only looked away, still feeling guilty about what was going on. Aang stood up and grabbed his glider from the wall. With a flick of his wrist, his staff snapped open. Suki gasped at how the orange wings appeared. She had never seen anything like it before in her life. " What about you?"

" I'll stay here and help out as much as I can." Sokka said, his eyes drifting off to the main street. Aang opened his mouth; he knew that the teenager meant going after his sister, but closed it and decided not to comment on it. He turned around and with a few quick strides down the alley way, jumped up, and took off into the sky.

Suki grabbed Sokka's wrist and pulled him towards her. Without warning, she placed a chaste kiss on his cheek and he blinked from the spontaneity of it. Sokka mindlessly brought his left hand up to his cheek and she stood up. He swore that if he didn't have the face paint on, she would laugh at how red his cheeks had gotten.

" Good luck."

" W-what was that for?" He slowly got up.

" I maybe a warrior, but," Suki smiled, her grey-blue eyes warm, and reached out to caress his cheek. " I'm still a girl."

She left before he could utter another word. He closed his eyes and leaned against the wood paneling of the wall behind him. Faintly in the distance he could hear the rest of the Kyoshi Warriors engaging the Fire Nation soldiers and he knew then that he had to act. Pushing himself off of the wall, he ran out into the street and straight towards the Prince and the page.

**ooo**

" Is that who I think it is?" Katara asked with skepticism as she looked over Zuko's shoulder. Zuko looked ahead at what she was referring too and frowned. There he was, the one of many obstacles in his life at the moment.

" Yeah," he said lowly. " It is." Katara took off her helmet and tossed it aside. It clanked as it hit the solid dirt floor and she jumped off of the large beast. She brushed some of the dirt off of the sleeves of her uniform. " What are you doing?"

" I'll take care of it. If we get rid of him, it'd be sure that the Avatar would surrender for his life."

" Katara…"

" Go after the Avatar. That's your mission." She flexed her fingers as she felt for a nearby source to bend. " Mine is to protect you."

Zuko looked at Katara as he hesitated to leave her side. He closed his eyes and bit back the urge to just _protect_ her. He flicked the reins of his kodomo rhino and took off, leaving her behind. _She was a warrior_, he kept reminding himself, _loyal to the Fire Nation. _He just had to _trust_ her.

Katara ran straight at Sokka, and kicked a wave of snow and water at the chieftain. Sokka jumped out of the way, landing on his chest. He gasped and rolled onto his back. The attack had barely missed him, the ice cold water grazing the side of his right sleeve. Katara ran at him and jumped up and tried to land a kick on him but he quickly rolled out of the way.

" Ka-katara…" Sokka said breathlessly as he tried to stand up. The young woman frowned as she willed melted snow and water to her command. " Please, just listen to me…!"

" I'll only listen to you if you tell me where the Avatar is at."

Sokka looked at his sister and his heart nearly broke. Here she was, no more than a few feet away, and she looked so different. She looked so… _evil_. The way she glared at him; blue eyes that were filled with so much contempt instead of the warmth and love he remembered. It was tearing him up inside to see her like this. He wanted to reach out for her and just hug her and tell her it was okay, that she could stop fighting and be normal again. Maybe if he heard his voice, maybe if he yelled, it'd break her out of that spell she was under.

Without a word, Katara ran forward for another attack. The snow and water was now a dagger in her hand. She quickly ducked and with low reverse roundhouse, kicked his legs from underneath him, knocking the boy onto his back before he had a chance to react. She quickly got on top of him and raised her ice dagger above her head. Sokka closed his eyes and swallowed whatever spit was in his mouth.

" It's a pity I have to kill you. But if that gets the Avatar to show up then—_ow!_"

Water splashed on Sokka's face and he sputtered. He felt his sister quickly get up off of him and opened his eyes to see her cradling her right hand in her left. He looked next to him and saw one of the golden fans the Kyoshi Warriors used lying on the ground and back up at Katara, the girl looking around to find out who attacked her.

Katara took a step backwards, away from her brother, and growled in frustration. She bended the melting snow from one of the nearby roofs and kicked a wave of water towards one of the buildings. The wave cut through one of the banisters that held the roof up and it tumbled over, the roof collapsing and forcing the assailant out from hiding. Katara took a step forward and smirked.

" I see we have a trend going on here." She flexed her fingers again, trying to get a feel for another source. The snow was quickly melting and the water evaporating due to the growing flames. It was giving her less and less of a source to attack with. " I didn't know you were into playing dress up with the girls."

Sokka rolled onto his side and ran a hand down his face, the makeup now nothing more than a wet smudged mess on his hands and face. He didn't reply and got up instead, still trying to recover from the blow he recieved. He looked across and gaped as he saw Suki standing in front of Katara in a fighting stance. So she was the one that saved his life? He definitely owed her one whenever he saw her again. Katara looked over her shoulder and back at the Kyoshi Warrior leader.

" Two against one isn't very fair odds." She chuckled. The waterbender wasn't a fool; she wasn't going to try and engage in a fight without a source of water around, even if one of the two was a bumbling idiot.

Pushing some of her hair away from her face, she licked her lips, " I think I might need to bow out of this one."

Katara spun around, bending the little nearby snow to a sharp water whip at Suki, who blocked the attack with her one remaining fan. She did a low spin kick, commanding the water to follow her leg and out like a sharp whip at Sokka, knocking him over. She took off down the main road and Suki wordlessly chased after her. Sokka quickly got up and followed not too far behind.

" There's something odd about the way she bends." Suki said when Sokka caught up with her. Katara was gaining more distance between them. Sokka raised an eyebrow.

" What is it?"

" Her bending, its like she's a firebender. Her attacks are aggressive…" She turned to face Sokka. " Do you know her?"

" Why?"

" Because I see the hesitation in your eyes."

**ooo**

** "**Is that how it's going to be, Avatar? You're just going to let these girls fight for you?" Zuko yelled out.

"I'm over here!"

Zuko turned around in the direction of the voice. His frown became a smirk as he saw the airbender standing in front of the burning Avatar Kyoshi statue. The airbender immediately got into a defensive stance as Zuko approached the child.

" So, what took you so long? _Guilt_?"

" I can't just standby and let you destroy this village."

" Well, you should have thought about that before hand!"

Zuko shot an aggressive ball of flames at the airbender and Aang swung his staff, deflecting the flames elsewhere with a gust of wind. Zuko continued his assault and each flame was deflected by the airbender. Aang jumped up in the air and rotated his staff above his head to propel him closer to the prince. Zuko took a step backwards once Aang landed and kicked a blaze of flames out at the boy. Aang lost his footing and fell backwards, dropping his staff.

The firebender ran at the boy and jumped in the air. Aang rolled out of the way before Zuko landed with a kick. The airbender quickly ran around the prince and picked up two abandoned fans. Zuko twisted around to make another quick attack, but Aang had taken a deep breath and with one spin, bended a blast of air in the teenager's direction. Zuko was pushed off of the ground and across the street, breaking past the door and slamming right inside a building.

Aang gave one last look in the direction the prince had went with a pang of regret. He didn't want to be aggressive. If there was a way that he could just talk this out, he would… but he couldn't surrender himself either. He was the Avatar and his duty was to save the world. Surrendering would just set the world into a worst state than it was already in.

He quickly grabbed his staff off of the ground and jumped in to the air, snaping his staff open and taking off into the sky to meet back up with Appa. The guilt that he had brought this war to the village didn't ease his soul and he couldn't simply take off and run away with the flying bison without doing something about it. Confronting Zuko was the least he could do to buy the village some time to recover. He had to find Sokka – the faster they got off of the island, the faster the Fire Nation would leave.

**ooo**

" Stop running, Sokka! She's just wasting our time." Suki yelled out as she stopped her pursuit of the royal page. Sokka and Katara stopped running and Sokka turned around to face Suki.

" What do you mean she's wasting time?"

" She's a waterbender with no water." Suki's eyes narrowed at Katara. " She can't fight us."

Katara frowned slightly and crossed her arms, " Who said I was buying time?"

" The longer he stays on this island, the longer the Avatar stays." Katara blinked and then laughed at what the Kyoshi Warrior said.

" Well, that's a nice idea now that you've said it. Maybe I should keep running and leading you on some wild goose chase." She sighed dramatically. " Or maybe I should kill you two and be done with it."

" Katara, stop saying these things." Sokka said. The waterbender looked at her brother and glared. This time, it had no affect on the teenager… instead he was indifferent to it.

" Stop saying my name… You do not know me!"

" Yes, I do!"

Katara growled and rushed towards Sokka. He made no attempt to move out the way but stand there, looking at his sister with pity. Suki cut in in between them and blocked Katara's punch with her hand. She pushed the girl away. Katara stumbled back and nearly tripped over her own feet before gaining ground again. She took a stepbackwards.

" You don't know me." She whispered, enough so that the two could hear. " I've never met you…" The crackling of wood began to sound louder against her ears. She took another step backwards. " I don't know you at all…."

" Yes, you do." Sokka said as he took a stepfoward. Katara closed her eyes, the yelling and screams suddenly getting louder and louder. There was crying and foreign names she had never heard before, confusing her. She couldn't make sense of it at all, all of it meshing into a garbled mess. She covered her ears.

" Make it stop… make it stop…"

Another step, " We've met before." Another step. " Years ago."

" Get away!" Katara opened her eyes and took her hands away from her ears. She stumbled backwards, trying to feel for a source of water, trying to fight back the strange feeling of memories she couldn't tell were real or fake. Why was the blue replacing the red? Why were there lands of snow replacing halls of black marble? " Go away!"

Suki stood and watched. There was something unusual about the two teenagers. How come Sokka knew this girl but she had not memory of him? How come this girl was even in the Fire Nation, let alone a soldier? Who _was_ this girl?

Katara raised her eyebrows once she felt a nearby source of water. _Finally_, something that wasn't evaporated from the fires. She immediately called upon it, the force and desperation of her bending knocking the barrel of water over, and in a desperate and forced haste, threw the water at the boy. It knocked him over onto his back and she took off to find Zuko. Suki ran over to Sokka's side and helped him up.

" Who _is_ that girl?"

Sokka watched her retreating form emotionlessly, " She's my sister."

" _Your sister_? But how did she end up in the Fire Nation?"

Before Sokka could answer, Aang arrived with Appa and landed the beast next to the two. Sokka looked up at the airbender and sighed in relief. Quickly, the chieftain climbed up Appa and got into the saddle. He looked over the saddle at Suki who shook her head, as if telling him not to worry.

" Worry about yourself and protecting the Avatar." She said. " Also, saving your sister. We'll force them out. Go."

" Appa, yip yip!"

The beast took off into the sky and Suki watched in awe as it rose higher and higher into the sky.

**ooo**

" Where's the idiot chief?" Zuko asked as Katara approached him. The girl looked up at the sky and pointed to the flying bison escaping over their heads. Zuko's good eye went wide. " Back to the ship, follow them before they get away!" The soldiers ran back to the shore, some riding back on komodo rhinos, on the prince's orders.

" He told me I knew him…" Katara whispered. Zuko turned around, eyes wide with worry. Did she find out? " From a long time ago… But I never met him in my _life_."

" He's lying and tricking you. He's trying to turn you against us because you're a waterbender." Zuko was amazed at how calm he was able to say such a lie. Katara didn't bother to at him.

" He knows my name…"

It started to rain and Zuko looked up at the twilight sky. There was no a rain cloud in sight. He turned his attention to the western horizon and saw the Avatar riding a beast and commanding it to spray water onto the village. His jaw ticked in frustration, the water becoming steam as it touched him. He turned his attentions back to the waterbender next to him and noticed she didn't bother to bend the water away. She allowed the water to fall on her face and closed her eyes to embrace it, letting it wipe the worry away from her mind and body.

He had to get rid of that obstacle once and for all.

**ooo**

" Did you meet the waterbending ninja?"

" Yeah."

" Did she remember?"

" No." He lied down on his back and closed his eyes, letting sleep over take him. " Not a single thing."

* * *

_She's starting to remember? Dun dun dun... Some of you may wonder why Katara is so aggressive when she fights, almost like a certain firebender? I like to blame it on the fact that the ones that taught her how to fight were no other than Li and Lo. Rewatching ep 4 for reference, I tried to incorporate the bickering between Aang and Katara into both sides for this chapter. Hope I did it well. I like making Aang call her the waterbending ninja... lol  
_

_My chapters are getting longer and longer! This one was 17 pages long, last one was 16. _

_I wonder what's gonna happen with Zuko and Katara :3? Again, I love reviews and questions and all that jazz... maybesomefanartoo?lmao  
_


	19. Fortunetelling

**Where Loyalties Lie  
**Chapter Nineteen

_Fortunetelling_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar_

* * *

It always intrigued Katara how certain parts of the world would be deathly cold while other parts of the world would be extremely hot during the winter season. The farther north they went, the colder it got, while the closer they got to the equator, the warmer it would be; then, the whole cycle of the seasons changing as they crossed into the southern half of the world. She couldn't understand why it worked out that way, other than it being absolutely fascinating.

That was why she loved certain parts of the vast Earth Kingdom that she had the opportunity to visit. While some parts were snow covered, others were untouched by the harshness of the frigid winter winds much like the Fire Nation, and there was parts of the kingdom that were just right – mild temperatures, almost reminiscent of spring, yet cold enough to remind you that it was still winter.

Their hunt for the Avatar had led them into one of such locations. There were reports of the Avatar being seen in a village that resided at the base of an active volcano and much to the delight of Katara, it was in one of those nice cool Earth Kingdom villages where she could still see a flower in bloom and leaves on the trees. The waterbender, caught up in the pleasure of the nice scenery, plucked a white flower off of one of the many bushes as they continued down the path that lead to the village.

" The flowers are beautiful in this region." She said softly as she twirled the flower in between her index and thumb. Zuko rolls his eyes at her.

" We have more important things to worry about than stupid flowers." He said flatly, ignoring the flower in her hand and keeping his attention ahead.

Katara's brow twitched in annoyance and she tossed the flower over her shoulder. Iroh caught the flower in his hand just before it hit the floor and inspected it in his hand gently. With a chuckle, he caught up at Katara's side and handed her back the flower. She blinked in confusion as she accepted it and he only shook his head with a smile.

" This is a white _shizhu_," Iroh said as Katara ran her fingers against the delicate white pedals. " It stands for pure love."

" W-what." Katara felt her cheeks burn and she quickly glanced at Zuko for a reaction but there was none. Instead, he only quickened his pace to widen the gap between him and the two. She faced Iroh again, " U-Uncle!"

" Just saying."

" Stop playing around, you two!" Zuko yelled, but how his voice wavered, Katara knew he was just as flustered as her – maybe more so than her.

They arrived in the town shortly after. While Iroh had taken everything in good stride, Katara and Zuko had noticed something uncanny about the Earth Kingdom village. Usually when they entered a village not under Fire Nation occupation they would get strange looks and many scurrying back to their homes, but this time no one paid the three soldiers any mind. Instead, they greeted them with smiles and gentle gestures. A man soon approached them at the town's square with a wide smile that showed his corroding teeth.

" Welcome! Aunt Wu predicted that a group of Fire Nation soldiers would come by to this village!" He said excitedly. Zuko raised an eyebrow and Katara blinked.

" Hun?" Was the collective response from the two individuals. The old man pointed to a large house at the opposite end of the square and stepped aside to make way for the three.

" She wants to see you immediately! Go, please don't make her wait." The old man glanced at the flower in Katara's hair and his smile seemed to grow wider, much to the astonishment of the teenager. " My, when will Aunt Wu's amazing skill ever cease to amaze me? She also predicted one of you would have a white _shizhu_!"

Katara's hand instantly shot straight to the flower that rested on her ear and bit her lower lip nervously. Now things were starting to get really creepy.

" We don't have time to see some woman, old man." Zuko snapped harshly. " We're here for the Avatar. Have you seen him?"

" Aunt Wu would have your answer and then some, young warrior."

" I am not _some_ warrior, I'm the Princ-!"

" We would absolutely be honored to speak to this Aunt Wu you speak of." Iroh said with a smile, cutting off his nephew who growled in annoyance and huffed out some smoke. " We won't make her wait any longer."

Iroh grabbed Katara and Zuko's wrists and pulled them over to Aunt Wu's residence despite the complaining of his nephew and the silent bewilderment of his page. Once they reached the house, Zuko pulled his wrist out of his Uncle's hold and stomped his booted foot on the floor, a lick of flames shooting out on impact. Oh yes, the Prince of the Fire Nation was beyond angry now. Iroh only sighed and let go of Katara.

" You maybe a prince but you sure act like a little boy." Iroh said dryly. Before the argument could even get heated, the door had quickly slid open revealing a grinning teenaged girl with pigtails. The trio turned around to face the girl, blinking at her, and she simply returned with a larger grin.

" Finally, we were wondering when you guys were gonna get here!" She exclaimed as she moved aside to let them in. " Come on in, I'll let Aunt Wu know you're all here."

Iroh quickly stepped inside with the other two following shortly behind, one grumbling under his breath while the other looked around the home with intrigue and mild confusion. The young teenager, who they figured out was named Meng, directed them to a waiting area with cushions to kneel on and placemats for plates of food. After Iroh thanked Meng, Katara adjusted her arm guards and black leather gloves while Zuko sat in silence with his eyes closed.

" Do you want anything to eat or drink?" Meng asked coming back to the trio. She stood in front of Zuko and knelt down. Katara eyed the girl warily as the young teenager leaned forward as if she was inspecting him. Zuko opened his one good eye slowly.

" No."

The girl's cheeks slightly turned pink and she quickly stood up. She took a step backwards and laced her fingers together behind her back, toying around with the ribbon of her purple obi nervously.

" I'll take a cup of ginseng tea, if you may." Iroh said with a cheeky grin. The girl absentmindedly nodded to Iroh request, still caught up on the prince before her. Katara narrowed her eyes at Meng, but it went unnoticed by the love stricken girl.

" You know, you have big ears." She suddenly pointed out. Zuko opened his eyes and gaped at the girl in shock at the random comment. He brought his hands immediately to his ears and felt them. They weren't _big_…

… Or were they?

" Uh…"

" I'll go get that tea now!" She turned on her heel and disappeared into the hallway. Katara leaned forward so she could look at Zuko from around Iroh.

" _Stop_ doing _that_," She snapped. " Your ears are _not_ big." Zuko's hands fell back into his lap like a child who had just been caught doing something bad. He sighed in frustration at the fact he let some girl get to him. Iroh chuckled. " What!"

" Nothing, my Little Katara."

Grumbling, Katara sat back on her cushion and folded her hands in her lap. She couldn't believe that she was letting some little girl get to her like that. It probably was innocent and she was just looking far too into the situation. There was no way Zuko would just let some girl flirt with him like that and that girl probably wouldn't be interested in him if she found out he was the _Prince_ of the _Fire Nation_. She'd probably run away in fear and let the villagers know and then a revolt would happen and then they'd have to fight their way out of it and it would just set them back even more… and…!

…. Katara was chewing on her bottom lip as her mind ran amuck with the crazy scenario. Her eyebrows furrowed and she grasped onto the rough fabric of her pants. Oh Agni, they should have never stopped at this village. Bad, bad, bad…!

" Here's your tea!" Meng said as she handed Iroh a cup of tea. The old man took it gracefully with a smile of appreciation and Katara's head shot up to look at the girl. She watched as she made her way over to Zuko and place a tray of pastries and sweets in front of him. He looked at her indifferently and she immediately blushed. Katara cleared her throat and the girl jumped back as if she was caught doing something.

" My, this tea is delicious. You have a talent, my dear." The young girl looked at Iroh and gave him a bow in appreciation. She turned around to focus on Zuko again and he looked up at the girl with an eyebrow raised. Honestly, what did this girl want from him? She blushed again and took another step backward.

" Uh," He looked at the tray of food and back at the girl. Oh, maybe she wanted him to thank her? " … Thanks for the bean curd puffs."

The girl's eyes brightened with joy and her smile was wide, " O-oh, t-t-thank you!"

She nearly tripped over her robe as she turned around to leave the trio in the waiting area. Katara couldn't help but notice the skip in her walk as she rounded the corner. She looked at Zuko with a dry expression and he caught her look. He threw his hands up in the air with a look of indignation and she rolled her eyes.

" What! I can't thank the girl for the puffs? It looked like she was waiting for it!"

" Right." Zuko glared at his Uncle.

" Uncle! " He barked. " This is your fault for bringing us here!"

Iroh took a gentle sip from his tea, " I didn't force you to do anything, Prince Zuko."

" Augh! So frustrating!"

" Ah, welcome warriors. I see you've finally made it. " The accented voice of an older woman said from behind the folding screen. The three turned their attentions to the direction of the voice and watched as the woman emerged with a smile on her painted lips. She was vain, Katara noted mentally, trying to stop time from aging her with her makeup. " My name is Aunt Wu, and I'm this village's fortuneteller. Hopefully my assistant was of great help to you?"

" Yes, she was. A beautiful and talented young girl, she is." Iroh complimented as he placed his empty teacup on the tray. Meng poked her head from behind the folding screen and watched Zuko, unknowingly to the boy.

" I must say she is a wonderful person. Now," She clapped her hands together. " Who wants to go first for a reading?"

" I'll go!" Iroh quickly stood up and joined Aunt Wu's side. " I would love to have a reading about my _love_ life." Katara and Zuko groaned.

" Well, let's find out."

Zuko ran a hand down his face as his Uncle left with the Fortunteller into one of the rooms behind the folding screens. Katara glanced at the tray of food and at Zuko. She got up and brushed out the wrinkles out of her pants and wrap. He looked up at her and raised an eyebrow but she paid him no mind as she adjusted her leather fingerless gloves.

" What are you doing?" He asked.

" I'm going to restroom." She brought her hands back to her side and began to towards the folded screens were that separated the waiting room from the rest of the house. " Go finish eating your puffs. I'm sure you don't want to disappoint her."

Zuko opened his mouth to say something but closed it instead, grumbling nonsense to himself. She disappeared around the corner and he looked at the bowl filled with the multicolored puffs. He hesitantly took one and plopped it into his mouth, chewing slowly as he tasted the flavor of the sweet bean paste. His eyebrow raised at the flavor, impressed that it actually wasn't bad. He swallowed it and plopped another one in his mouth. Soon, another followed and then another after another... In all honesty, they weren't bad at all… But, his stubborn pride wouldn't let himself say it out loud – especially when he had a girlfriend that was assuming things.

**ooo**

Katara quietly walked down the dimly lit hall, or as quietly as she could with the amount of armor she was wearing. She didn't need to use the restroom; it was just an excuse to leave that room and clear her mind a bit. She knew that she was over reacting to the situation – even though the little assistant was for some reason infatuated with Zuko, the prince had absolutely no interest in the girl. Katara chewed on her lower lip as she mentally kicked herself for showing her childishness. There was no reason for her to get jealous yet there was always something that could set her off and make her so.

She heard a muffled conversation as she passed one of the rooms and stopped. Recognizing one of the voices, she crept back to the door and leaned her ear against it. Ah, like she had known, it was Uncle Iroh getting his fortune read; but from the sound of what little she could hear from the conversation, it sounded more like Iroh was hitting on the older woman with each response he made to her predictions. She slightly frowned at one of his jokes and groaned at Aunt Wu's obviously too childish of a giggle.

" Um, are you lost?"

Katara jumped at the sound of the girl's voice and stumbled backwards. She regained her footing and turned around to face the fortuneteller's assisting with a frown. Meng didn't seemed phased at all and merely looked indifferent as she waited for an answer.

" No," Katara said as she crossed her arms. " I'm not lost. I was just taking a walk."

" By listening onto a private conversation?"

" I..!" Katara bit her lower lip. " Shut up!"

" Do you need me to help you with anything?" _Yeah, you can stop by not looking at my boyfriend with lovesick eyes_, Katara thought grimly. _Augh, I need to stop acting like a little girl! _ She sighed in defeat and decided to change the conversation to the reason that they were there.

" Yeah, you can." Katara put one hand on her hip and held another one out in front of her, leveled with her chest. " Have you seen a kid about this height, bald, with an arrow on his head?" The girl brought an index finger to her chin and looked up in thought. She then clapped her hands together like she had an epiphany and nodded.

" Yeah!" She said excitedly. " He was here a few days ago. He had big ears too! And was cute, but," She slightly frowned. " He didn't pay attention to me at all. He was more focused on saving this village. I had thought that he was my soul mate but I guess he wasn't the one…"

Katara blinked, " What."

" Oh! Aunt Wu said my soul mate would be a man with big ears." She blushed slightly and twirled one of her pig tails around her finger sheepishly. " Every time a guy with big ears come in, I always think he's the one that Aunt Wu predicted for me but they always run away or avoid me." _Oh. So that's it._

" … And… I am assuming…"

" I think he likes me." Meng blushed even more and turned around to hide her face from the waterbender. She twiddled her thumbs and Katara sighed in defeat. Katara pinched the bridge of her nose as if it would relieve the headache she was receiving, "But I don't know... He seems like those silent types…"

" Right, well, I can most certainly say that—"

" Oh! You must be eager to hear your fortunate." Aunt Wu interrupted the two as she slid open the slider and stepped out in to the hallway. Iroh was next to her with a raised eyebrow and an amused smirk. Katara couldn't help but frown, but it didn't do anything.

" No…" Katara trailed off. Aunt Wu raised a well-manicured eyebrow and Katara sighed in defeat. " … Yes, I am."

Aunt Wu stepped aside to allow the teenager into the room. Katara hesitated so Iroh gave her a slight push. She stepped into the room and shot Iroh a glare over her shoulder. He smiled and a goodbye that disappeared as Aunt Wu closed the slider. The old fortuneteller collected her robes and walked over to the center of the room, her jewelry jingling against each other with each step. Katara watched her and moved over once Aunt Wu motioned for her to sit near the fire.

Katara sat down and placed her hands on her lap. She watched as the woman pulled out a small leather bag from under her cushion.

" This is sand that has been blessed by the Avatar Qing," Aunt Wu began as she reached into the bag. Katara didn't believe her; who was Avatar Qing? " It possesses a power that enables me to see into your future." She tossed the sand into the fire and it flamed up on contact before settling back down.

" And how… will that foresee my future." Katara asked skeptically. Aunt Wu closed her eyes and shushed her.

" Be silent, Child." The fire that was once calm began to gently rise. " I forsee… a tumultuous future… There will be war, death, and conflict between trust and love." The fire flared up and died down again. " Oh my… you'll be forced to make a decision that will determine the fate of the entire world."

Aunt Wu opened her eyes and looked at the teenaged girl in front of her, " You will have to make sacrifices, many that will be difficult."

Katara could not deny that her heart was racing and a fear settled in the back of her mind. War? Death? Trust? Love? An important decision? It all seemed too close to home. She licked her lips and shifted.

" What is that important decision? Why will it change the fate of the world?"

" I do not know… the sands do not allow me to see in detail."

" What about my love life? You mentioned it… trust and love. What about it?" She sighed. " How come my fortune is only death and despair yet Uncle gets a happy love life one?"

" I'm sorry, Child, but I only am able to see what the sands let me see. But there is someone close to you, very close… when the time comes… your trust in that person will be tested. Your _love_ will be tested."

" Zuko…" She breathed to herself. Katara stood up and Aunt Wu followed. She led the girl out of the room and back to the waiting room where Iroh and his nephew waited.

Katara looked at Zuko with uncertainty. After what Aunt Wu told her, it made her uncomfortable and she didn't know why. She knew that she doubted the old woman's fortunes but ever since she embarked on this mission with the Prince, many questions have popped up in her own life… Like a past she didn't know she had was revealing itself to her, a past so foreign it felt as if it was from another lifetime. It was scary and painful…

Zuko looked up at caught her looking at him. Something had happened because the way she was looking at him that very moment was anything but a look a lover would give to their significant other. It was almost as if she was questioning him… confused. He looked at Aunt Wu and frowned.

" What did you do to her?" He asked. Aunt Wu blinked and shook her head.

" Nothing. But, if you come with me, I'll read your fortune… "

" I don't want my future read. I know what it contains."

" Do it, Zuko." Katara said. Zuko looked at her with mild shock. " I believe… in what she has to say."

There was a moment of silence in the room then Katara silently left the house. Zuko watched her leave and then back at the fortuneteller. He stood up and the fortuneteller stepped aside.

" Fine." He said as he walked passed her.

Aunt Wu pulled out a bone from a dish next to her cushion and held it out in front of the Prince. He looked at it with skepticism but she paid it no heed.

" These bones have been blessed by the spirits of the Spirit World," she began. " I use the flame and the cracks of the bones to read your future."

She tossed the bone into the flame. It flared up dangerously and the bone exploded. The two leaned back and held up their hands to protect them from the scattering bone fragments. The flames down and Aunt Wu leaned forward to read the fragments scattered around the flame. Her eyes widen in shock when she picked one up.

" What?" Zuko dryly asked, unimpressed.

" You will experience much pain and sorrow in your life. Many of the decisions you will make will hurt so many around you…"

" Will I capture the Avatar?"

Aunt Wu raised an eyebrow, " The bones do not tell me what you will do or who you will _harm_." She placed the fragment down and picked up another. " But, you're conflicted and your inner turmoil will be the cause of suffering for those close to you. Or, it can be your salvation if you choose to conqueror it."

Zuko looked at some of the bones at his knees in thought. None of this helped him. It was just a mess of cryptic nonsense that anyone could have told him if they knew his backstory well enough. But, if that was the case, why did a part of him believe her? Why was apart of him … afraid of the possibility of that dark fortune?

" What about…" He whispered.

" What about…?"

" What about… Katara?" He looked up at Aunt Wu. " What about her? Will I hurt her?"

Aunt Wu shook her head and sighed, " The girl…" Aunt Wu picked up another bone fragment. " The girl… will be the one who will suffer the most."

Zuko closed his eyes and tried to calm his mind. It wasn't Zhao that he should protect her from. No, it was himself. That thought shook his core. He… he loved her; so why was he the one to bring so much pain to her?

" Why?"

" The bones do not say."

When he joins her outside of Aunt Wu's home, there's an uncomfortable silence. He looks at her as she watches the villagers busy themselves with their day-to-day activities. There's an apprehension, an uncertainty, neither want to discuss the fortune they've received yet it was the only thing on their minds. Knowing that, in some way, they were doomed to fail.

" We've wasted too much time here." Zuko says, his voice more hoarse than normal. Katara nods. " The Avatar must be days away from us now and these villagers probably have no idea where he could be."

The door opened behind them and Aunt Wu stepped out, Meng following behind her with an oversized book – too large for her small little hands – and Iroh right behind. The fortuneteller stopped to look at the two teenagers with a smile on her painted lips. They looked at her but said nothing.

" I am going let the village know if Mt. Makapu will erupt this week. If you please, you're invited to come and listen."

She left the Fire Nation soldiers behind with Meng following closely behind. Iroh looked at the two individuals he has raised.

" I think it wouldn't hurt to see her in action."

" We need to find the Avatar." Zuko crossed his arms. " Not waste our time listening to lies and fabrications."

" I'll go with you." Katara said, joining Iroh. Zuko raised his eyebrow at her but she slightly shook her head. " I want… to see if there's any truth behind her words."

" Katara."

" We'll be back soon." Iroh said. Zuko sighed and leaned against the stone wall. He watched as they made their way to the village center. He wasn't going to continue subjecting himself to these mind games. He knew his destiny; he didn't need a crazy old woman to tell him ludicrous fortunes. He would capture the Avatar and become Fire Lord.

He didn't need a bone in a fire to tell him that.

The village would be spared. The volcano would not erupt. The villagers cheered for another day spared. Amidst the celebration, Katara watched as Aunt Wu weaved through the crowd to make it back to her home. Maybe the fortuneteller was right, maybe she could change the world with a decision. Maybe there is someone hiding something from her. Maybe, just maybe, she might have the answer for it.

Katara reached into her left sleeve and pulled it back to reveal the blue choker wrapped around her wrist. Maybe Aunt Wu would have the answer for her; why was this choker to familiar to her and why could she not remember where she seen it before.

" Uncle," Katara said. " I'm going to ask Aunt Wu another question, if that's okay with you?"

Iroh chuckled, " Of course, my little one. I'll let Prince Zuko know that we'll be on our way once you return."

" Thank you."

** ooo**

" Aunt Wu?" Katara asked once she managed to catch up with the woman. She turned around and raised an eyebrow at the waterbender. For someone so skeptical of her fortunetelling, she seemed willing to find and speak with her. Her mild shock was then replaced with amusement and a smile appeared on her features.

" Yes, child?"

Katara untied the choker from her wrist and handed it to Aunt Wu, " What can you tell me about this choker? A… friend… of the family gave it to me as a gift… but for some reason it's like I've seen this before. This _exact_ choker."

Aunt Wu took the jewelry gently from Katara and examined it. She ran her fingers across the smooth surface of the stone and rough texture of the fabric. She closed her eyes and winced once a vision came to her. It was something painful, something that eventually made her flinch. She suddenly opened her eyes and blinked a bit to gain her composure.

" I don't know the whole story behind this piece," Aunt Wu said as she handed the choker back to Katara. " And I can't say how it relates to you, but, I can say that whoever it had belonged to had suffered something tragic. Something unspeakable… there's a lot of pain in that choker you hold in your hand."

Katara held the choker up to her face and watched as the blue stone reflected some of the light from the setting sun.

" Thank you." She tied the choker around her wrist and pulled her sleeve down to cover it.

" Come, child. I believe your men are waiting for you back at my home."

Once they arrived at her home, Iroh greeted them with a big smile. Zuko was still brooding by the wall and Iroh had made up a lighthearted excuse for the Prince. Aunt Wu laughed at it, much to the irritation to the teenager. Katara couldn't help but smile slightly, it was nice to see him flustered once and a while.

" We're leaving now! The Avatar has too much of an advantage on us." Zuko snapped as he pushed himself off of the wall.

" I don't think it would be wise to travel in these forests at night," Aunt Wu suggested. Zuko turned around and opened his mouth to counter what she said but she quickly cut him off, " There won't be a full moon out tonight which means there can be things out there that not even a…." She eyed him condescendingly. "… Firebender could ward off."

Iroh stepped over to Aunt Wu, " I think it might be a good idea to spend the night, Prince Zuko." He said as he wiggled himself closer to the fortuneteller. " We haven't had a _good_ night's _rest_ in a while." Katara sighed and Zuko face palmed.

" I have guests rooms. Meng can show you to them."

As if on cue, the quirky assistant stepped out of the house and greeted everyone with her gapped tooth smile.

" We have no time for this." Zuko gritted between clenched teeth. He looked at Katara. She caught his eye and knew exactly what he was going to do. Whenever he and his Uncle were at a standstill, he would always bring her in to help change the situation in his favor.

" Do you have baths?" Katara asked Aunt Wu. " I don't see the purpose of us staying if we can't take a decent bath. For that, we're just wasting time as the Prince has said." She looked at Zuko indifferently, almost with a brisk of annoyance. It did not go unnoticed.

" Of course, child. Meng can also prepare them for you as you wish." Aunt Wu looked at her assistant. " Prepare the rooms and a bath." The girl nodded and went back inside the house.

" Well, I guess you've lost this one, Prince Zuko!" Iroh said cheerfully. He offered her his hand and she took it gracefully. They both went inside of the home.

Zuko and Katara stood outside of the home in silence. Neither of them wanted to speak first, instead waiting for one of them to make the first move.

" What are you trying to do? You know that our mission is the Avatar, not playing hocus pocus with some scam artist." Zuko snapped.

Katara frowned, " We haven't had a warm bath and a nice bed to sleep on in almost a week and _you're_ complaining? Have you ever stopped, once, in your life to notice that everyone in the world isn't against you?"

" If you haven't realized already, Katara, but my life is on the line here."

" So is _mine_. I want to go back to the Fire Nation as much as you. " She sighed. " Let's just… use this night to properly rest. Tomorrow, we can resume our search early in the morning."

She extended her hand to him and with a sigh he took her smaller hand into his own. She led him into the home without much protest from him, neither saying a word. Zuko was amazed at how easy it was for Katara to calm him down, like water putting out a fire. Her logic and reasoning was what kept him balanced, focused on the issues at hand and not allowing his emotions to consume him. They argued so much and yet they balanced each other so well.

So, he doesn't protest when she whispers in his ear that she wants him to stay with her that night nor does she say no when he asks her to share a bath with him. And when they fall asleep, they sleep deeply in each other arms, forgetful of the reality of what's around them. There are no Avatars, titles, or uncertain futures – just them.

Katara awoke later in the night in a cold sweat. She had the nightmare again; the one where she's in the middle of a burning village in the snow, faceless people running and screaming while it burned to the ground in a fury of smoke and flames. The smell of burning bodies is so fresh and she covers her mouth with her hand, holding back the reflex to gag. She feels the cold, blue, stone against her cheek and holds her hand out to look at the pendant.

The nightmares didn't start until she had this pendant and after Aunt Wu's explanation, she really wondered what the connection was between her nightmares and that choker. Katara felt Zuko shift behind her and he pulled her closer to him, burying his face in the crook of her neck. She sighed, as she watched the faint orange glow of the lantern outside their window reflected off of the blue stone pendant.

She'd never tell him about her nightmares.

** ooo**

" Thank you for your hospitality, it was graciously appreciated." Iroh said with a bow. Aunt Wu chuckled and crossed her arms.

" It's not everyday that I get royalty in my home for the night." She said with a glint in her eye. Iroh cleared his throat and looked at his two teenagers. They gave him a suspicious look.

" Again, we appreciate it."

" I heard word that the Avatar was headed towards an Earth Kingdom village south of here, close the coast." Aunt Wu said nonchalant. " Hopefully, you'll make the right decision when you find him, Young Prince."

Zuko's good eyebrow twitched, " Thank you, Fortuneteller." He gritted. Aunt Wu looked at Katara.

" Keep him in check, Child, he'll need it."

Katara only chuckled and patted Zuko on the back. Soon, they were on their way.

* * *

AN: Oh my, I'm alive. This chapter took a long time to write, mainly because a lack of a muse and major's writers block. It sat on my HD for an entire YEAR. Can you believe the last update was a year ago? I'm so bad. I had to reread my entire story to figure out what was going on. I definitely have some continuity errors in this story which means I definitely need to rewrite chapters 1 - 11.

So, there's another 7 - 9 chapters planned according to my notes here. Katara is slowly beginning to remember fragments of her past... so I wonder how long Zuko can "protect her from the truth". Hmmm *scratches chin* Aunt Wu definitely stirred some waters between the two but for some reason they like to rebound from it. I think its because they're totally in denial. They suspect something's not right but are afraid to confront it. Makes for good drama :V

Next chapter, we swing back over to Sokka and Aang and see what mess they leave behind for Zuko and crew.


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